Saudi king replaces labor minister, promotes culture, environment

CULTURE AND ENVIRONMENT
The royal orders set up a new Ministry of Culture, extracting it from the information ministry as part of a drive to capture more Saudi leisure spending at home amid a budget deficit caused by low oil prices.

Prince Bader bin Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Farhan Al Saud, who was appointed in April to the board of a newly-established General Culture Authority, was named culture minister.

He already has several top positions, including governor of a commission to develop a historic tourism destination in the country’s north and chairman of the Saudi Research and Marketing Group, which is closely linked to King Salman’s branch of the royal family.

King Salman also ordered the formation of royal commissions for the environment and the holy city of Mecca, and an administration for preserving historical areas in the Red Sea city of Jeddah.

Maps tweeted by state media showed that six nature reserves established by the orders - “to reestablish wildlife, enhance their development and promote eco-tourism” - covered some 265,000 square kilometres (65 million acres) of territory.

One of the sites is named for the king and another, located between the proposed NEOM business zone and a Red Sea tourism project, for the crown prince.

The royal orders also named several new deputies in the ministries of interior, telecommunications, transport and energy, industry and minerals, and appointed new heads to the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu and the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy.