JEDDAH: The Cabinet, in its weekly meeting chaired by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman, approved an agreement between Saudi Arabia and Sweden for the avoidance of double taxation and prevention of tax evasion with respect to income and capital, which was signed in Riyadh earlier this year.

At the outset of the session, King Salman briefed the Cabinet on the outcome of his talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his meeting with Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Abdul Latif bin Rashid Al-Zayani, during which a number of issues related to the progress of the GCC joint action were reviewed.

On local affairs, Essam bin Saad, acting minister of culture and information, said the Council of Ministers thanked King Salman for including 2,628 students studying on their own in the United States, into the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Foreign Scholarship Program, which was announced recently by Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Saeed said the Cabinet took several decisions, including renewing and making board appointments at the General Commission for Survey for three years. Those whose membership were renewed included Abdullah bin Salman Alsalman, Adel bin Shahin Aldosary and Zaki bin Mohammad Ali Farsi. Abdullah bin Mohammad Alshadid was appointed as a new member.

The Cabinet further approved the final accounts of the Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization for 2014/2015; and the annual report and financial statements of the Public Investment Fund for the same fiscal year.

The ministers approved the establishment of the Madinah-based King Abdul Aziz Complex for Endowment Libraries; and measures to improve working conditions at several government departments.

The Cabinet also approved penalties for those violating the country’s regulations on fishing, aquatic resources, livestock, pastures and forests, agricultural quarantine measures of the GCC, and the region’s rules on beekeeping.

The penalties included having the names of offenders published in local media, at their expense.

The Cabinet further decided to approve the Northern Border University’s signing of two drafts of memorandums of understanding for academic cooperation with Japan’s Kanazawa and Nagoya universities.