Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — The Council of Ministers on Tuesday approved issuing license to the Standard Chartered Bank to open its branch in the Kingdom.

The weekly session of the Cabinet, chaired by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman at Al-Yamamah Palace in Riyadh, authorized the minister of finance to take a decision on request to open more branches of the bank.

Minister of Media Turki Al-Shabanah said the Cabinet’s decision stipulates that the British bank should comply with the rules and regulations in the Kingdom.

The Cabinet approved two agreements signed between the Ministry of Labor and Social Development and Uganda’s Ministry of Gender, Labor and Social Development in the fields of hiring Ugandan domestic help and laborers.

The Cabinet also approved the ownership of the Saudi Railway Company (SAR) to encompass almost all movable and immovable public rail transport properties, including the North South Railway, railway projects linking with Waad Al-Shamal mineral industries, Riyadh-Dammam Railway, dry port in Riyadh and the Haramain High Speed Rail.

After examining the report of the minister of finance and the decision of the Shoura Council, the Cabinet approved the agreement between the Saudi government and the Swiss Federal Council to avoid double taxation and tax evasion.

It also endorsed a memorandum of cooperation between the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) and the Ministry of Transport of the Great Britain and the Northern Ireland in the field of civil aviation security, and another memorandum of understanding between GACA and the US Federal Aviation Administration for technical cooperation in the civil aviation field.