The Shura Council held today (Tuesday) its forty-eighth regular session of the second year of the eighth term via video conference, chaired by the Speaker of the Shura Council, Sheikh Dr. Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Ibrahim Al Sheikh.

The Council reviewed the topics on its agenda, and during its session, the Council voted to approve the National Center for Measuring the Performance of Government Agencies’ request to attract national talents in specializations related to the Center’s tasks, and to train and qualify them in a manner appropriate to the Center’s tasks. In the same resolution, the Council called on the Center to make optimal use of its budget, and to ensure that it benefits from it in developing its performance, improving its ranking in terms of digital transformation, and sending its employees abroad for training, to enable them in the fields that serve the Center and achieve its goals. The Council also indicated that the Center should review the design of its organizational structure, create a cybersecurity unit or department, and work on completing the integrated performance platform project.

The Council made its decision regarding the annual report of the National Center for Measuring the Performance of Government Agencies for the fiscal year 1442/1443, after reviewing the report of the Human Resources and Social Committee, including its opinion and justifications, which was presented to the Council by the Chairman of the Committee, Abdullah Al-Tawi.

In another matter, and among the topics included on the session’s agenda, the Shura Council discussed a report submitted by the Financial and Economic Committee regarding the annual report of the General Authority for State Properties for the fiscal year 1442/1443.

After the report was presented and discussed, the council voted to approve the committee’s report on the annual report of the authority, after it was read by the committee chairman, Saleh Al-Khalawi.

In its resolution, the council called on the General Authority for State Properties to work on reducing the rental portfolio by providing land to government agencies to establish permanent headquarters for them.

Following that, the Council, during the session, approved a report submitted by the Hajj, Housing and Services Committee, read by the Committee Chairman, Dr. Ayman Fadel, regarding the contents of the annual report of the Saudi Authority for Industrial Cities and Technology Zones for the fiscal year 1442/1443, after the Committee had completed studying the report.

The Council’s decision included a demand for the Saudi Authority for Industrial Cities and Technology Zones (MODON) to expand its efforts to attract new investments and establish quality partnerships to achieve the goals of Saudi Vision 2030 and keep pace with the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The Council also called on the Authority to intensify environmental services programs to include all industrial cities and city oases, so that they all become environmentally friendly cities and oases.

The council called on the Saudi Authority for Industrial Cities and Technology Zones to continue establishing industrial city oases in promising locations in various governorates and centers to take advantage of their comparative advantages and human capital.

Regarding the session's proceedings, the Council discussed a report submitted by the Human Resources and Social Development Committee concerning the annual report of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development for the fiscal year 1442/1443, which was read by the Committee Chairman, Abdullah Al-Tawi, after the Committee had presented its recommendations and opinion on the report after studying it.

After the committee’s report and recommendations were presented to the council members for discussion regarding the recommendations and views contained in its report, council member Dr. Nasser Al-Mousa called on the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development to give more attention and support to the programs, services and activities it provides to people with disabilities in Saudi Arabia, in line with the requirements of the Vision 2030 programs. Council member Dr. Sultana Al-Badiwi called on the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development to cancel the condition of independent housing for a divorced woman without children and to consider her an independent beneficiary, not a dependent.

For her part, Dr. Aisha Zakri, a member of the Shura Council, pointed out the need for new legislation and regulations that include all employees in all governmental and private sectors, and allow them to count part of their working periods as remote work according to specific and clear conditions and controls.

For her part, Council member Dr. Reema Al-Yahya stressed that the indicator of the rate of Saudis being employed should not be for the sake of raising the indicator, but rather by finding suitable jobs that are appropriate to their academic level and that match their qualifications.

Council member Engineer Mohammed Al-Ali also called on the ministry to play an effective supervisory role to control and prevent practices that violate the regulations of the unified system for women’s work environment, demanding that monitoring and field follow-up of establishments be intensified to ensure that they meet the system’s regulations and requirements.

Meanwhile, Shura Council member Dr. Faisal Tamihi called on the ministry to emphasize to the private sector that it should not require Saudi citizens wishing to join the labor market in the private sector to have experience.

As part of the agenda of the council session, the council discussed a report submitted by the Trade and Investment Committee regarding the financing guarantee program for small and medium enterprises (Kafalah) for the fiscal year 1442/1443, which was read by the head of the committee, Dr. Fahd Al-Takhaifi, after the committee had completed studying the report and submitted a number of recommendations on it.

After the committee’s report and recommendations regarding the annual report of the Small and Medium Enterprises Financing Guarantee Program (Kafalah) were presented for discussion, the council voted to approve the request for the Small and Medium Enterprises Financing Guarantee Program (Kafalah) to coordinate with the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development to study and activate the appropriate regulatory and organizational tools for transferring the program’s employees to the Small and Medium Enterprises Bank.

The council also called on the program to coordinate with funding agencies to develop the necessary mechanisms for those agencies to continue reducing lending risks and providing guarantees to small and medium enterprises and to activate those mechanisms.

During the session, the council moved on to discuss a report submitted by the Energy and Industry Committee regarding the Ministry of Energy’s annual report for the fiscal year 1442/1443, which was read by the committee chairman, Engineer Ali Al-Qarni.

After the committee’s report and recommendations were presented for discussion, Shura Council member Dr. Aisha Arishi called on the ministry to coordinate with relevant authorities to increase market oversight of substandard electrical appliances that contribute to increased electricity consumption and weaken conservation efficiency, in addition to being quick to break down and potentially causing fires.

At the end of the discussion, the committee chairman asked for more time to study the matter and to return with its viewpoint to the council at a future session.

In another context, the Council discussed a report submitted by the Energy and Industry Committee regarding the annual report of the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources for the fiscal year 1442/1443, which was read by the Chairman of the Committee, Engineer Ali Al-Qarni.

After the committee’s report and recommendations were presented for discussion and deliberation, the committee chairman requested that more time be given to study them and return with the committee’s point of view at a later session.

The Council also issued a decision at the beginning of its session on the report submitted by the Finance and Economic Committee regarding the annual report of the Center for the Development of Non-Oil Revenues, after the Committee had completed its study of it and prepared its report and opinion on it. The Chairman of the Committee, Saleh Al-Khalawi, read the Committee’s report before the Council, and after the Committee’s report was presented for discussion, the Council voted to approve what the report contained in terms of opinion and recommendations.

The Council also approved - in the same session - a report submitted by the Transportation, Communications and Information Technology Committee, regarding the annual report of the Saudi Authority for Data and Artificial Intelligence for the fiscal year 1442/1443, after it was read to the Council by the Chairman of the Committee, Hazza Al-Qahtani.