The weekly Cabinet meeting, chaired by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, also decided to upgrade the fund’s regulations to comply with the Public Housing Authority’s law and other related laws.

Culture and Information Minister Abdul Aziz Khoja said the Cabinet nullified the land-ownership condition for a person to apply for real estate loans.

“It also made the amount of loan given to citizens in all the Kingdom’s regions uniform at SR300,000,” he added.

The Cabinet instructed the fund’s officials to work out a mechanism for cooperation with financial institutions in order for its applicants to receive additional funds for implementing their real estate projects.

The Cabinet also decided to sign an agreement with Russia for cooperation in peaceful use of nuclear energy. The chairman of King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy, Hashim Yamani, has been authorized to hold talks with Russian officials to reach a deal.

Earlier, King Abdullah briefed the ministers on the outcome of his talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. He reiterated Saudi Arabia’s support for the peace process in order to achieve a comprehensive Middle East peace settlement and establish a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.

The Cabinet meeting also reviewed the Kingdom’s preparations for the annual pilgrimage, which begins Nov. 14, 2010. Thousands of pilgrims have already arrived in the Kingdom from different parts of the world to perform Haj. King Abdullah instructed government departments to provide the best possible services to the guests of God.

The Cabinet commended the king’s call for establishing an educational program in mass gathering medicine in the Kingdom. He made the call during an international conference on mass gathering medicine, which concluded in Jeddah on Monday. Experts who participated in the conference praised Saudi Arabia’s successful experience in dealing with mass gatherings during the Haj and Umrah seasons.

The Cabinet approved the State Revenue Law and agreed to apply the regulations of Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities on employees of the antiquities and museum sector. It brought the Al-Kharj agricultural project under the Ministry of Agriculture after separating the project from Al-Ahsa Irrigation Authority.