Saudi Gazette report

Jeddah -- Royal orders and decisions issued by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman from time to time reaffirm the keenness of the monarch to keep pace with local and international changes at all levels, said Minister of Culture and Information Awwad Al-Awwad in a statement on Saturday.

The objective is to raise the level of performance of state departments and provide the best services to citizens, expatriates and visitors to the two holy mosques, he said.

These orders are in conformity with Vision 2030 announced by Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, deputy premier and minister of defense.

Among these is the royal order to set up the Presidency of State Security as an independent authority that is linked directly with the Prime Minister so as to give it the ability to focus on the security of the nation, citizens and expatriates and counter terrorism, spying and ideological invasion of all kinds using the best international means and methods in terms of security and information. This is apart from monitoring financing.

These measures will shorten many bureaucratic procedures in decision-making and enable speedy response with firmness and determination to counter any hostile intentions against the nation. These measures will enable the Presidency to communicate with the related regional and international authorities and develop its tools and raise efficiency so as to ensure precision in implementation and follow up, the minister said.

They will enable specifying the functions of state security in pertinent sectors by dealing with matters in the field, which were the functions of the Ministry of Interior.

This will help the Ministry of Interior devote its time and efforts in providing civil services to the civil society and safeguard the developmental gains, disseminate the culture of respecting the law and protect civil rights and safety for citizens through public security agencies including the police, traffic police, civil defence, Passports Department, Drug Combat Department and other agencies. The aim is also to raise efficiency and speedy completion of work in the services provided to citizens and expatriates.

The Ministry of Interior is a member in all the economic, commercial, development, security and social committees. The establishment of the Presidency of State Security will enable the ministry to focus on the development and social aspects.

The separation of the two sectors will have a positive economic impact, as there will be rationalization of spending and increase of revenues, by providing better services and ideal use of resources by putting a limit to traffic accidents that claim thousands of lives every year.

There is dire need to decrease the number of lives lost in traffic accidents and treatment expenses on the injured and protecting properties.

The establishment of the Presidency is in conformity with the vision of the late Prince Naif Bin Abdulaziz.

The concept of the Presidency of State Security exists in most of the countries, Awwad said in his statement.

Dr. Majed Al-Qasabi, minister of commerce and investment, also said the establishment of the Presidency of State Security will contribute in collecting information with great precision.

It will enable the Ministry of Interior to concentrate on its basic functions as a services ministry, and raise the quality of services by developing its system of electronic services as well as all the services in the rest of its sectors.

This will contribute in developing the traffic police services, recommend and design better roads to decrease the rate of accidents. In turn this will have a positive impact on the economy and health. At the same time, it will reduce expenses.