RIYADH: The Cabinet has approved the creation of panels in each administrative region of the Kingdom to look into the spread of factories outside sites designated for industrial activities.
In a session chaired by Crown Prince Salman, deputy premier and minister of defense, at Al-Yamamah Palace in Riyadh on Monday afternoon, the Cabinet cited the need to check such proliferation before it goes out of hand.
In a statement to Saudi Press Agency, Culture and Information Minister Abdulaziz bin Mohieddin Khoja said committees consisting of delegates from governmental agencies are to take inventory of all factories located outside designated industrial sites, to collect information and data about each factory, to examine the case of each plant separately in light of the information available, and to propose recommendations and appropriate solutions.
The committee shall set sufficient time to make corrective measures, according to the nature of each factory, and shall propose appropriate arrangements for factories that do not correct their situations within the specified time.
For factories to be established in the future, the Cabinet mandated the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs to designate land for industrial use in the appropriate locations in the various regions.
The Cabinet also mandated the Saudi Authority for Industrial Cities and Technological Zones to prepare and develop the land designated for industrial use for the establishment of the industrial cities, and to encourage the private sector to establish developed industrial cities outside the major cities.
Minister Khoja said the Cabinet was also briefed on the latest events and developments in the region and the world, including the latest developments in Syria and the continued acts of violence and the bloodshed of the Syrian people; and the widening of the circle of violence against Muslims in Myanmar.
He said the Cabinet stressed the importance of concerted international efforts to disarm weapons of mass destruction and prevent their proliferation, reiterating the kingdom's firm position on strengthening the efforts of international cooperation in this regard and supporting the efforts aiming to make the Middle East a demilitarized zone of all weapons of mass destruction, which was expressed by the Kingdom before the Review Conference III of the Convention on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague.
The Cabinet also commended 1st Saudi-French Business Opportunities Forum in the French capital of Paris, stressing the kingdom's keenness to support and develop its trade relations with key partners through mechanisms that contribute to the strengthening of trade and economic exchanges.
Minister Khoja pointed out that the Cabinet reviewed a number of cultural, scientific and health activities held during the week and commended the achievements of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah International Award for Translation in its sixth session, and Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz Local Contest For the Holy Qur'an Memorization for Boys and Girls in its 15th session.
• Related Story: Factories outside industrial areas to be shifted
