His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, chaired the Cabinet session held on Tuesday in Jeddah.
At the outset of the session, the Cabinet praised the heroic role of the Armed Forces and their valour in defending the homeland and protecting its achievements and resources against the Iranian attacks and their serious repercussions that have afflicted the region. The Cabinet affirmed that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia thus remains a haven of security and stability, advancing with steadfast steps to strengthen its blessed course and support regional and international stability, drawing from Allah Almighty’s guidance and resolve in confronting diverse challenges.
In this context, the Cabinet commended the success of operational and technical efforts to restore production at several energy facilities damaged by the attacks, with this swift recovery reflecting the Kingdom’s energy system’s high operational resilience and crisis-management capacity, thereby reinforcing the reliability and continuity of supplies to domestic and international markets and supporting the global economy.
The Cabinet stressed its categorical rejection of the violations of states’ sovereignty and attempts to threaten the security and stability of the region, reiterating in the strongest terms its condemnation of the blatant attacks that targeted the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states with drones launched from Iraqi territory, and underscoring the importance of the Government of the Republic of Iraq assuming responsibility in addressing these threats.
In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) following the session, Minister of Media Salman Al-Dossary indicated that the Cabinet subsequently reviewed the successive achievements attained by the Kingdom in various fields. In this regard, the Cabinet commended the outcomes of the Umrah and Ziyarah Forum held in Madinah, which witnessed broad international participation and the signing of a number of agreements and memoranda of understanding (MoUs) that will contribute to developing the system of services for the Umrah performers and pilgrims, and enhancing integration among the entities operating in this sector.
The Cabinet praised the Kingdom’s new achievement in space exploration with the launch of the “Shams” satellite and the success of its mission by national hands that built and developed it, thereby aligning with the aspired goals of fostering innovation and scientific creativity and strengthening international partnerships in this field. The Cabinet also appreciated the attainment of numerous awards and medals by the education and health systems at the Geneva International Exhibition of Inventions 2026, whose distinction embodied the Kingdom’s continuous support to empower these two sectors and elevate them toward new horizons of progress and leadership across all domains.
The minister indicated that the Cabinet regarded the attainment of advanced positions by eight Saudi cities in the Smart City Index 2026 issued by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) as confirmation of the accelerating pace of development in services provided to residents, infrastructure, and the quality of life across the Kingdom.
Moreover, the Cabinet commended the steps taken in environmental protection and vegetation restoration, including the rehabilitation of the first one million hectares of degraded land and the planting of more than 159 million trees under the Saudi Green Initiative (SGI).
The Cabinet addressed items on its agenda and issued several decisions, including the following:
First:
Approving a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on political consultations between the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, Defence, Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade of Luxembourg.
Second:
Approving a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in the field of Islamic affairs between the Saudi Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Dawah and Guidance and Tanzania’s National Muslim Council.
Third:
Approving a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Saudi government and the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China for cooperation on information exchange in the fields of infrastructure and construction.
Fourth:
Approving a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for cooperation in civil aviation between the Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation, the General Authority of Civil Aviation of Syria, the Civil Aviation Administration of China, L’Agence Nationale de l’Aviation Civile et de la Météorologie of Comoros, the Liberia Civil Aviation Authority, the Georgian Civil Aviation Agency, and the Seychelles Civil Aviation Authority.
Fifth:
Approving a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for cooperation in tourism promotion and marketing between the Saudi Tourism Authority and Qatar Tourism.
Sixth:
Approving a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for cooperation between the Saudi Economic Cities and Special Zones Authority and the Ministry of Investment in Jordan.
Seventh:
Approving a cooperation agreement between the Saudi Data and AI Authority (SDAIA) and the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO).
Eighth:
Approving a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Saudi Presidency of State Security and the United Nations represented by its Office of Counter-Terrorism.
Ninth:
Approving an agreement on electronic exchange of customs data between Saudi Post (SPL) and the United States Postal Service (USPS).
Tenth:
Approving the Enforcement Law.
Eleventh:
Approving amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering Law.
Twelfth:
Extending the Jeddah Historic District Program for an additional two years.
Thirteenth:
The state shall bear taxes and customs duties on consignments of livestock from 1/11/1447 AH until the end of the Hajj season of the same year.
Source: Riyadh Daily