The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is creating its first ministerial body dedicated to cybersecurity, and it will be headquartered in Riyadh. The OIC Council of Foreign Ministers approved the council at its 52nd session on the basis of a proposal from Saudi Arabia.

The new council is tasked with strengthening cybersecurity in member states to protect their vital interests and national security, building closer cooperation among them and defending their interests in international bodies that deal with cyber issues.

Under the decision, it will be a subsidiary organ of the OIC and the organization's reference point on all cybersecurity matters. Its general secretariat and executive office will sit in Riyadh, each led by a representative of the host country, and its members will be the cybersecurity authorities of the member states.

Eng. Majed Al-Mazyed, Governor of the National Cybersecurity Authority, said the Saudi initiative comes as cyber threats to states' vital interests, critical infrastructure, priority sectors and government services keep rising. He called cybersecurity essential to economic growth and to international peace and security, praised the leadership's support for the sector and thanked the authority's board, chaired by Minister of State and Cabinet Member Dr. Musaed Al-Aiban.

Al-Mazyed said choosing Riyadh within the OIC, the second-largest intergovernmental organization after the United Nations with 57 member states, shows the Islamic world's trust in the Kingdom's leadership of international initiatives.

Saudi Arabia previously led the creation of the Global Cybersecurity Forum, the Arab Cybersecurity Ministers Council, whose secretariat and executive office are in Riyadh, and the Centre for Cyber Economics with the World Economic Forum. Riyadh also recently became home to the first cybersecurity office of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR).