June 23, 2006

THE CABINET EXPRESSES ITS APPRECIATION OF THE KING'S STRATEGIC VISION SPELLED OUT IN THE SPEECHES ADDRESSED TO CITIZENS DURING THE MONARCH'S CURRENT TOUR OF THE EASTERN REGION, HAIL, QASSIM AND AL-MADINAH AL-MUNAWARAH. THE CABINET APPROVES THE AMENDMENTS OF TWO ARTICLES OF THE ORGANIZATION OF THE GENERAL COMMISSION FOR INVESTMENT. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz chaired the Cabinet's weekly session at Taibah Palace in Madinah Al-Munawarah on Monday. In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) following the session, the Minister of Culture and Information Iyad Ibn Amin Madani said that the Cabinet expressed its appreciation of the King's strategic vision spelled out in the speeches addressed to citizens during the Monarch's current tour of the Eastern Region, Hail, Qassim and Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah regions. The Cabinet recalled the elements of this strategic vision which states that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a Muslim country. Hence there is no leniency with regard to the Islamic Sharia, which advocates justice, tolerance and peace. The vision's elements stressed the following: - that the Kingdom's pride of the service of the Two Holy Mosques is not equivalent to any achievement or glory; - that the Kingdom seeks prosperity for its citizens, brothers, friends and all mankind; - that the government does not differentiate between a region and another nor a citizen and another. All the homeland's soil and all citizens are dear to the state; -that the Kingdom's economy is based on a good investment of its resources for the interest of the homeland and citizens at present and in the future; -that social, economic and cultural development is a joint effort. All society's institutions and individuals should participate in and work for this effort; -that the Kingdom is dependent on Almighty Allah in all its works and at all times be those well or ill. The Minister of Culture and Information added that the Cabinet considered this strategic vision as a framework that controls and directs the efforts of the state's institutions, bodies and various social sectors. All people are responsible for crystallizing the objectives and setting plans leading to the realization of this vision. The Minister of Culture and Information said the Cabinet then reviewed the local items on its agenda and issued the following decisions: Upon the recommendation of the Minister of Interior, the Cabinet agreed to amend Para B of Article 107 of the Officers Service System to read as follows: Officers belonging to interior security forces who manage to perform daily field works will be paid according to the stipulations of Para A of this article based on a proposal from the Minister of Interior and approval of the Cabinet. Para B of Article 23 of the Personnel Service System was also amended to read as follows: The personnel of interior security forces who manage to perform daily field works will be fully paid according to a proposal from the Minister of Interior and approval of the Cabinet. The Minister of Foreign Affairs or his deputy was authorized to discuss a draft agreement on the privileges and immunities of the Arab Education Bureau for the member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council between the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the bureau, sign the agreement and forward its final version for further authentication. The Cabinet approved amendments of two articles of the Organization of the General Commission for Investment. Accordingly, article 3 will read as follows: the main purpose of establishing the commission is to take care of investment in the Kingdom, including foreign investment and to supervise the economic cities including the following: forging the state's policies in the field of developing and increasing the domestic and foreign investments and forwarding them to the Cabinet, supervising the economic cities and supervising the implementation of basic appliances and infrastructure works, setting up comprehensive service centres, organizing the entry of investors to economic cities and fixing their positions according to the nature of their economic activity and providing help for them to obtain necessary licenses from the concerned authorities, proposing the executive plans and the principles eligible to create good investment climate in the kingdom and forward them to the Cabinet, following and assessing the performance of the domestic and foreign investment and making regular reports on that, conducting studies on the opportunities of investment in the Kingdom and promoting it, coordinating with relevant governmental organs to assist the commission in assuming its duties, organizing, holding and participating in conferences and symposiums and internal and external exhibitions and other activities relating to investment, developing the data bases and conducting necessary statistical surveys and any other function officially assigned to the commission. The Commission's Board of Directors has been formed as follows: The Governor as chairman and the representatives of the ministries of interior, foreign affairs, commerce and industry, petroleum and mineral resources, water and electricity, finance, economic and planning, labor, transport and SAMA as members. Two more members from the private sector will be appointed according to a proposal from the governor. The three-year membership in the board of directors will be renewable for only one similar term.