Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman held calls with King of Jordan Abdullah II, President of Tunisia Kais Saied, and Prime Minister of Italy Giuseppe Conte, during which they discussed the latest developments in the world due to COVID-19 pandemic, in addition to the international efforts to curb and limit its spread.
Meanwhile, the Saudi ministers were briefed virtually over the calls.
The ministers lauded the Royal Order aiming to support the private sector, namely the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as well as economic activities affected by the global pandemic.
The Order called for a 3-months financial compensation for more than 1,200,000 citizens working in affected enterprises.
This reflects King Salman’s keenness to mitigate the social and economic impacts of the pandemic.
Acting Minister of Media, Majid bin al-Qasabi, announced that the council appreciated the leadership's utmost keenness to provide financial support to confront this pandemic in addition to approval of the budgets submitted by the Ministry of Health.
The cabinet affirmed that the current and coming phases will see rapid developments of the pandemic in the world, hailing the leadership's measures to reduce 90 percent of direct contact.
It also appreciated the Royal directives to finalize the procedures of citizens who wish to return home from abroad with the priority for Saudi citizens in countries mostly affected by the coronavirus.
The cabinet also confirmed the Kingdom's call for OPEC + countries to hold an urgent meeting aiming to reach a fair agreement that restores the desired balance to the oil markets. It asserted that this came as an extension of Saudi Arabia’s previous efforts to achieve market stability as well as its attempt to support the global economy in this exceptional situation.
The government approved a number of international memorandum of understanding (MoUs) in various fields with India, Russia, Japan, and Korea.
The also cabinet reviewed the annual reports of the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs, General Authority for Audiovisual Media, and General Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (formerly) for two previous fiscal years and made appropriate recommendations in their regard.
