King Abdullah chairs Cabinet session (3/26/12)
March 26, 2012
The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz chaired the Cabinet session at Al-Yamamah Palace in Riyadh today. After reviewing the latest developments in the regional and international arenas, the Cabinet welcomed the U.N. Human Rights Council’s condemnation of Israel’s human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian territories and its ongoing settlement-building. The ministers hailed the Council’s decision to establish an independent, international fact-finding mission to investigate the implications of the Israeli settlements on the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of the Palestinian people.The Cabinet expressed condemnation of the criminal act carried out last week by a terrorist in Toulouse and Montauban, France, which resulted in the death of six French citizens. It stressed the Kingdom’s position opposing all acts of violence and terrorism and offered its condolences to the people and government of France.
Then, the Cabinet reviewed a number of issues related to economic and scientific activities in the Kingdom. It expressed appreciation to the Turkish government for its decision to terminate anti-dumping duties imposed on Saudi petrochemical exports. The Cabinet praised the end of all lawsuits currently filed against Saudi petrochemical products, stressing that stressed that the Kingdom’s trade dealings are consistent with the commitments it made at the World Trade Organization (WTO). The Cabinet highlighted the 3rd International GCC Forum and Exhibition of the Environment and Sustainable Development, which was held in Jeddah with the participation of more than a thousand scientists, researchers and others interested in environmental issues.
Addressing its weekly agenda, the Cabinet approved a memorandum of understanding between the Saudi Ministry of Interior and the Financial Intelligence Unit of the Netherlands to cooperate in the exchange of financial intelligence on money-laundering and terror financing; approved an agreement between Saudi Arabia and Romania for the avoidance of double taxation and income tax evasion; authorized the Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources to sign a draft memorandum of understanding for technical cooperation between the Saudi Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources and the Jordanian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources in the areas of geology and mining; and approved appointments made to the board of the Saudi Geological Survey.
