JEDDAH, 31 July 2007 — In his address to the weekly meeting of the Council of Ministers yesterday, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah welcomed Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s recent visit to the Kingdom.
“The two countries have close ties of religion, friendship and cooperation. We also share the same view of the political movements in Muslim countries and the need to distinguish between the extremist movements that raise the slogan of Islam to hide their deviant view of Shariah and between the forces that tread the path of Shariah acceptable to people and within the framework of Islam.”
In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency following the meeting of the ministers at Al-Salam Palace in Jeddah yesterday, Culture and Information Minister Iyad Madani said: “The council also commended the king’s meeting with the emir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah and the continuous efforts made by both countries to strengthen the institutions for the joint Gulf and Arab action and for strategic interaction with the developments in the region.”
The Council of Ministers also underscored the Kingdom’s continuous efforts for a united stand by the Arabs and thus fortifying the institutions of joint Islamic action against any ideological, political, economic or military domination in the region or the attempts to change its stable and harmonious social setup with the local origin.
The council announced that the Department of General Statistics and Information is now under the Ministry of Economy and Planning in line with an earlier decision.
The council also approved the international agreement for the suppression of terror-funding on the basis of a report by Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal.
The council authorized the minister of finance or his deputy to sign a draft agreement between the Kingdom and the Republic of Uzbekistan to avoid double taxation for both income and capital. The agreement would also be instrumental in stopping tax evasion.
Another decision taken by the Cabinet was the approval of an agreement to regularize passenger and freight transport on the land between the Kingdom and Turkey. The agreement was signed in Ankara last August. The agreement stipulates the setting up of a permanent joint committee comprising members of both the countries’ land transport authorities. The committee would explore the development of bilateral transportation and overcoming the obstacles in implementing the agreement. Transportation between the two countries should be in a vehicle registered in either of the countries and should be subject to the regulations of the country where it is plying. Finally the Cabinet approved the agreement and protocol with Singapore for the promotion and protection of mutual investments.
