The Shura Council called on the General Authority for Statistics to evaluate and update the plans for implementing the National Strategy for Statistical Development, in line with the second phase of Saudi Vision 2030, and consistent with the approved national sectoral and regional strategies.

The Council issued its decision in its sixth regular session of the first year of its ninth term, chaired by the Council's Chairman, Sheikh Dr. Abdullah Mohammed Ibrahim Al-Sheikh, regarding the General Authority for Statistics' annual report for the fiscal year 1444/1445 AH. In its decision, the Council called upon the Authority to review and update the performance indicators of its institutional strategic objectives and annual targets to reflect the aspirations of the statistical sector. The Council emphasized that the Authority, in coordination with relevant entities, should expedite the implementation of the establishments census to ensure the provision of high-quality statistical indicators to support approved national sectoral strategies. It also requested the Authority, in coordination with relevant entities, to expand the necessary technical integration for collecting price data from the administrative records of government and private agencies to ensure improved quality of price products and indices in accordance with best international statistical practices. Furthermore, the Council stressed the need for the Authority to develop its current human resources policies and procedures to minimize employee turnover and retain specialized talent. This recommendation, submitted by Council member Dr. Asim Madkhali, was adopted.

The council called on Taif University – in coordination with relevant authorities – to complete the accreditation of its academic programs and to increase funding for scientific research to support the university’s research infrastructure, thereby contributing to empowering faculty members and achieving outstanding research outputs.

The council discussed the annual report of the National Health Insurance Center, and the council members expressed a number of observations and opinions regarding what was included in the annual report of the National Health Insurance Center. Council member Dr. Muhammad Ashri stressed the importance of the National Health Insurance Center preparing a draft health care coverage document or health benefits package, and uploading it to a survey platform to seek the opinions of beneficiaries before its approval by the board of directors.

The Council discussed the annual report of the Saudi Export-Import Bank for the fiscal year 1444/1445 AH, and the Council members expressed a number of observations and opinions regarding what was included in the annual report of the Saudi Export-Import Bank. Council member Mohammed Al-Faraj explained the importance of having private sector representation on the Board of Directors of the Saudi Export-Import Bank, as it is one of the most important partners and stakeholders of the bank. Council member Ahmed Al-Kridis saw an opportunity for the bank to conduct a study to identify factories that have products that can be exported and to find paths, programs and facilities that contribute to increasing exported products and increasing their percentage, taking into consideration medium and small factories, in conjunction with the number of factories in the Kingdom reaching more than 11,000 factories.

The Council discussed the annual report of the King Fahd National Library for the fiscal year 1444/1445 AH, and the Council members expressed a number of observations and opinions regarding what was included in the annual report of the King Fahd National Library. Council member Saad Al-Otaibi called for the need to consider the King Fahd National Library as a tourist attraction, linking it to national events and festivals, and making it one of the most important landmarks of the Kingdom’s tourism calendar, noting that this would contribute to creating a distinctive experience for tourists and a new destination for them within the Kingdom.

Council member Khalid Al-Saif called on the King Fahd National Library to review the goals set at the beginning of the year and the extent to which they have been achieved, pointing out the importance of highlighting the challenges the library faced, and evaluating the strategies proposed for next year and their contribution to improving performance. Council member Dr. Nasser Tayran called on the King Fahd National Library to expedite the adoption of its strategic plan.

The council discussed the annual report of Shaqra University for the academic year 1444 AH, and the council members expressed a number of observations and opinions regarding what was included in the annual report of Shaqra University. Council member Dr. Abdullah Al-Waqdani pointed out the importance of Shaqra University working on reviewing the university’s academic programs to avoid educational waste. Council member Dr. Mutaib Al-Mutairi inquired about the reason for the lack of research centers or scientific chairs at Shaqra University, and he also called on the university to expand partnerships with advanced international academies.

The Council discussed the annual report of the National Center for Transportation Safety for the fiscal year 1444/1445 AH, and the Council members expressed a number of observations and opinions regarding what was included in the annual report of the National Center for Transportation Safety.

The Council approved a draft memorandum of understanding between the Kingdom’s Digital Government Authority and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in the State of Qatar for cooperation in the field of digital government. It also approved a draft air services agreement between the Kingdom’s government and the government of the Kingdom of Eswatini. Furthermore, it approved a draft memorandum of understanding between the King Salman Global Academy for the Arabic Language in the Kingdom and Tashkent State University of Oriental Studies in the Republic of Uzbekistan for cooperation in serving the Arabic language. Finally, it approved a draft memorandum of understanding between the Institute of Public Administration in the Kingdom and the Supreme Council for Women in the Kingdom of Bahrain in the field of administrative development.

Al-Najjar to the Transportation Center: Focus on safety and develop a revenue mechanism

Council member Dr. Abdullah Omar Al-Najjar called on the National Center for Transport Safety to pay attention to public transport and its safety (of all kinds), and to take this matter into consideration when developing the infrastructure for its work, especially since the center did not address the issue of public transport and its safety, nor did it take it into consideration in all aspects of the report, although this is justified by the recent establishment of the center. He called for developing its infrastructure and its self-generated revenue system in a way that achieves efficiency and financial sustainability. Al-Najjar explained, in his intervention on the annual report of the National Center for Transport Safety, that the center and its staff are working very hard to develop the infrastructure for its work, including the comprehensive strategic plan, the organizational structure, and other matters related to the structure and entity of the center, stressing that there is no need to dedicate a separate recommendation to the strategic plan.

Al-Najjar pointed out that public transport enhances economic prosperity and reduces environmental pollution, in addition to providing comfort, safety, and reliability to its users. He noted that the Kingdom, under Vision 2030, is greatly interested in public transport and providing it to most of the Kingdom's cities in order to achieve the goals of the blessed vision of a prosperous economy, quality of life, and a transformation towards a promising and bright future. He considered the integration between the entities concerned with transport safety an opportunity to come up with comprehensive plans to explore ways of improvement, in addition to an opportunity to create an initiative from one of the Kingdom's Vision 2030 programs to raise the efficiency and safety levels in the entire transport system.

Regarding the challenge of the lack of financial resources to respond to serious accidents of different modes of transport that occur in a short period of time, and the lack of financial resources to conduct in-depth studies in the field of transport safety for all modes, Al-Najjar said: The center has the opportunity to provide some services, works and consultations for a fee to raise the center’s self-generated revenues, and to achieve efficiency and financial sustainability. Therefore, in order to develop its infrastructure and strategic plan, it adopts a number of initiatives that are concerned with building a system for managing self-generated resources, marketing the center’s services locally and regionally, building bridges of communication with donors and contributors, and enhancing self-generated revenues through the center’s research and consulting services.

Al-Anzi for Transportation Safety: Study the phenomenon of the increasing number of delivery motorcycle accidents

Council member Dr. Turki Mashhour Al-Anzi suggested to the committee the possibility of adopting a recommendation that calls on the National Center for Transportation Safety – in coordination with relevant authorities – to study the phenomenon of the high rates of delivery motorcycle accidents, in order to develop strategies that enhance public safety, and contribute to reducing accidents and increasing safety in delivery services.

Al-Anzi explained that the Kingdom is witnessing a remarkable increase in the delivery sector, with the number of daily orders estimated at about 750,000. This increase has led to a rise in traffic accidents related to motorcycles, as a result of excessive speed and overtaking between lanes, which some motorcyclists follow in order to reach customers quickly and achieve financial gains. Statistics from the National Center for Public Opinion Polls indicate that 49% of the participants in the survey were exposed to or witnessed a traffic accident in which one of the parties was a delivery person.

He pointed out that, as part of addressing this problem, the General Traffic Department carried out a field campaign in cooperation with the regional departments, which resulted in the seizure of more than 15,000 violating motorcycles. The campaign aimed to control traffic behavior and raise the level of compliance. The Public Transport Authority also recently issued six regulatory decisions aimed at regulating the delivery sector. Despite these efforts, motorcycle accidents are on the rise and have become a phenomenon that requires careful study and finding appropriate solutions to address it urgently, given the role assigned to the center according to its regulations.