The weekly Cabinet meeting, chaired by King Abdullah, also underscored the Shoura’s contributions to the Kingdom’s progress over the past years in terms of constructive initiatives, judicious opinions and valuable proposals, “making it an important partner in the country’s development process.”
Earlier, King Abdullah briefed the ministers on the outcome of his talks with Lebanese President Michel Suleiman and contacts with other world leaders, including Syrian President Bashar Assad. The king highlighted the strong Saudi-Lebanese relations and the two countries’ desire to strengthen these ties.
The Cabinet also noted the success of the International Book Fair in Riyadh, which was attended by more than 650 publishing houses from around the world with nearly 250,000 titles in Arabic, English, French and other languages. The 10-day book show is organized by the Ministry of Culture and Information.
The Cabinet took a number of important decisions. It added a new clause to the Social Insurance Law, which allows an increase in pensions and other benefits for the subscriber and members of his family and the introduction of additional compensation, within the limit of the financial condition of the General Organization for Social Insurance and after obtaining Cabinet approval.
The Cabinet reshuffled committees in Jeddah and Dammam for the settlement of insurance-related disputes. The three-member committee in Jeddah is chaired by Muhammad Al-Othman, while Abdullah Al-Harbi is the new chairman of the Dammam panel.
Culture and Information Minister Abdul Aziz Khoja said the Cabinet approved the rules and regulations for the Charitable Social Fund, which aims at improving the condition of poor citizens by creating job opportunities and financing small-scale projects.
The Cabinet appointed Ahmed bin Ali Al-Zahrani, administrative adviser at the Ministry of Justice; Abdul Rahman bin Saeed Abumilha, financial adviser at the Ministry of Transport; and Hussein bin Muhammad Aseeri, minister plenipotentiary at the Foreign Ministry.
At the same time, the Shoura Council also commended the king’s speech and said it would work to implement the speech’s contents through its various panels. “The speech referred to an important aspect of the Kingdom’s foreign policy, which is based on mutual respect, cooperation, dialogue and peaceful coexistence between nations,” said Muhammad Al-Ghamdi, secretary-general of the Shoura Council. He said the king’s annual address at the Shoura reflected the body’s importance.
