Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Chairs Cabinet's Virtual Session

NEOM, September 08, 2020, SPA -- The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud chaired here today the Cabinet's virtual session. At the outset of the session, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques briefed the Cabinet on the contents of the message he sent to Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Deputy Emir and Crown Prince of the sisterly State of Kuwait, emphasising ways of strengthening fraternal relations between the two countries in various fields. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques also briefed the Cabinet on the contents of his phone calls with each of President Donald Trump of the United States of America, President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation, President Emmanuel Macron of the French Republic, and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, in the context of following up the duties of the G20 chaired by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia this year, affirming the Kingdom’s proceeding with the presidency of G20 in supporting and coordinating the efforts of the group to confront the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic at the human and economic levels, as well as achieving stability and balance of the oil market, and working in the interest of the people of the world, and support of economies and health systems. The monarch also affirmed the Kingdom's keenness to reach a permanent and just solution to the Palestinian cause to bring about peace. In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), Dr. Majid bin Abdullah Al-Qasabi, Acting Minister of Media, stated that the Cabinet, then, reviewed a number of reports related to the COVID-19 pandemic locally and internationally; its developments in the preventive and treatment levels; the latest statistics on cases recorded in the Kingdom; and the positive contribution of the measures taken by the concerned authorities to curb the spread of the virus. The reports cited the continuing curve decline in terms of infections index, the increase in the rate of recovery cases, and to the commitment of citizens and residents to precautionary and preventive measures, in addition to expanding the scope of laboratory tests that included more than five million people so far. The Cabinet reviewed a number of issues about the latest developments regionally and internationally, including what was confirmed by the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Extraordinary Virtual Meeting, held under the chairmanship of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, on the importance of strengthening international cooperation to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic impacts, raising the level of preparedness for future crises and the importance of opening international borders in line with health measures and national regulations of countries in order to achieve economic prosperity for the G20 countries and people. The Cabinet also discussed the positive indicators recorded for the Saudi economy in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, of the growth of foreign investments for the first quarter in various sectors and economic activities by 20%, and the recovery of economic activity at the end of the second quarter coinciding with the reopening of activities, which confirms the strength of the investment environment in the Kingdom and it's safety for the investor, and the contribution of the programs and initiatives of the Kingdom's Vision 2030 in facing the consequences of the pandemic out of strength, according to a plan aimed at diversifying the economy and intensive investment in technology, in addition to ensuring that development plans are not affected by fluctuations in oil markets and promoting the role of the private sector. Dr. Majid Al-Qasabi stated that the Cabinet praised the security efforts in tracking criminal schemes which try to target the Kingdom with narcotic substances and their perpetrators and arrest them in coordination and cooperation among the concerned authorities, the last of which was the thwarted plan to smuggle (16,343,000) amphetamine pills. The Cabinet renewed its strong condemnation and denunciation of the terrorist attack that targeted two security men in the Republic of Tunisia, expressing the Kingdom's full solidarity with Tunisia in confronting any attempt to target its security and stability, and sincere condolences and sympathies to the sisterly Republic of Tunisia, the government and people. --SPA