On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia's King Salman issued a series of royal directives, establishing new ministries and signaling a major cabinet reshuffle.
The orders come at a time when the kingdom is >moving forward in its plans to implement Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's Vision 2030.
The >ever-transforming blueprint is helping the country wean-off its oil dependency and diversify its economy. The directives and the ministries launched under them are a major part of that.
Here's all you need to know about them:
The order established three new ministries
The government bodies already handling the tourism, sports, and investment sectors in the country have all been upgraded into individual ministries. The move reflects the kingdom's interest in bolstering sectors that can generate national income.
The newly established Investment Ministry now replaces the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority, previously headed by Ibrahim bin Abdulrahman Al Omar; the new government entity will be headed by former Saudi Minister of Energy Khalid Al Falih.
As per the changes, the country's Ministry of Commerce and Investment has been renamed as the Ministry of Commerce.
Saudi Arabia's new Ministry of Sports now replaces the kingdom's General Sports Authority, previously run by Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki.
The latter will continue to oversee the development of the sports sector in the country by heading the new ministry. A former racing driver, the prince is an avid sportsman and winner of several international competitions.
Tourism, which is now one of the country's >most bustling sectors, also got its own ministry. One of Tuesday's royal decrees ordered the upgrading of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage to a Tourism Ministry that will be headed by the commission's chairman Ahmad Al Khatib.
Several officials were removed from their roles under the directive
The royal directives relieved Sulaiman Al Hamdan of his role as Civil Service Minister and Turki Al Shabanah as Minister of Media.
For now, the country's Minister of Commerce, Majid Al Qasabi, will be the Acting Minister of Media in addition to his role. With the cancelation of Saudi Arabia's General Investment Authority, its governor Ibrahim Al-Omar also lost his post.
Though there were several dismissals, there were also a few appointments including the hiring of Mohammed Al Ameel as Deputy Secretary General of the kingdom's Cabinet.
New assistant ministers were also appointed in the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.
The country's Civil Service Ministry is no longer a separate entity
Another ruling handed down by King Salman ordered the merging of Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Civil Service with the the kingdom's Ministry of Labor and Social Development (MLSD).
Under the merger, MLSD has been officially renamed and is now referred to as the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development.