Saudi, Azerbaijan to tighten bonds 

(MENAFN - Arab News) The Kingdom and Azerbaijan held talks here yesterday to strengthen their parliamentary relations.

Shoura Council Speaker Abdullah Al-Asheikh held the talks with Oktay Osdov, speaker of Azerbaijan's National Council, at the Shoura Council's headquarters in Riyadh.

Osdov said the talks covered wide-ranging matters including parliamentary affairs, political relations and matters related to bilateral trade.

"Saudi Arabia is an important country to Azerbaijan and we are keen on developing relations in possible areas of cooperation," the visiting speaker said.

Al-Asheikh hoped the parliamentary friendship committees between the two countries would work together to reap the benefits of friendly cooperation.

At the end of the discussions, the two leaders exchanged mementos.

In a separate meeting yesterday under the chairmanship of Al-Asheikh, a group of Shoura Council members chalked out the agenda for the forthcoming sessions. During the meeting members assigned various annual reports of ministries and organizations to relevant council committees for further examination.

The meeting was attended by Deputy Chairman of the Council Mohammed Amin Al-Jaafri, Assistant Speaker Fahad Al-Hamad, Secretary-General of the Shoura Council Muhammed Al-Ghamdi and heads of committees.

According to the decisions, the Islamic Affairs and judiciary committee will study the annual report of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice for the fiscal year 1431/1432 AH, while the committee on economic affairs and energy would look into the draft regulations for real estate offices and the annual performance reports of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) for the fiscal years 1430/1431 and 1431/1432 AH.

The finance committee will discuss the annual performance of the Agricultural Development Fund, the Real Estate Development Fund, Saudi Credit and Savings Bank and the General Audit Bureau.

The reports from the respective committees will be tabled for detailed discussions by the general assembly of the Shoura Council.