Bahrain : His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, today chaired the weekly Cabinet Meeting at Gudaibiya Palace.
The Cabinet welcomed the outcomes of the visit made by His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa to the Arab Republic of Egypt, which included a meeting with the President of Egypt, HE Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi.
The Cabinet noted that the meeting further strengthened bilateral relations and joint coordination on international issues and developments.
To mark International Day of Peace, the Cabinet affirmed His Majesty’s initiatives that support international efforts to uphold international security, highlighting that the Kingdom of Bahrain continues its unwavering support of efforts to enhance global peace.
The Cabinet asserted the importance of strengthening the legal and legislative mechanisms that combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism. In this regard, the Cabinet welcomed the Basel Anti-Money Laundering Index’s finding, which ranks Bahrain as the first in the Arab region.
The Cabinet reviewed a summary of the performance of key economic indicators periodically monitored by The Ministry of Finance and National Economy, up to August 2021. The Ministry provided a comparison to the same periods in 2020 and 2019, showing signs of recovery and return to levels registered before the global pandemic. The findings are as follows:
• In the real estate sector, the number of building permits issued in the first eight months of 2021 increased by 18% compared to the same period in 2019 , while for the month of August 2021 alone, the number exceeded that recorded in August 2019 by 64.6%.
• Total spend using Point of Sales machine using ATM cards issued in the Kingdom of Bahrain in August increased by 55% compared to the same period in 2019.
• The value of Bahrain’s non-oil exports of national origin increased by 103% during August 2021 compared to August 2019, while imports grew by 16% during the same period.
• The tourism sector’s recovery is shown by several indicators, including the occupancy rate of 4- and 5-star hotels which exceeded 48% in August 2021.
• The second edition of the National Employment Programme achieved 70% of its goals in terms of employment and training. The programme has succeeded in employing more than 17,000 Bahrainis and training more than 7,000 Bahrainis.
The Cabinet discussed several memorandums during the meeting with the following outcomes:
The approval of the following memorandums:
1 – A memorandum by the Civil Service Council regarding the restructuring of several government agencies to improve efficiency and performance.
2 – A memorandum by the Ministerial Committee for Legal and Legislative Affairs regarding three draft decree laws that are part of a development package to improve legislation.
3 – A memorandum by the Ministerial Committee for Legal and Legislative Affairs ratifying the Arab Customs Cooperation Agreement, which aims to enhance joint cooperation between Arab customs administrations and further strengthen coordination in the economic and trade fields.
4 – A memorandum by the Ministerial Committee for Legal and Legislative Affairs regarding a draft law approving the “legal” system amending some provisions of the unified customs legal system for GCC countries.
5 – A memorandum by the Ministerial Committee for Legal and Legislative Affairs regarding a draft decision to amend some provisions of the executive regulations of the Civil Service Law.
6 – A memorandum by the Minister of Foreign Affairs on the third periodic report of the Kingdom of Bahrain on the progress made in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to be submitted to the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
The Cabinet took note of several ministerial reports. Including the outcome of: the fifth meeting of the GCC Ministerial Committee for Education, the twenty-first meeting of the GCC Ministers of Higher Education and Scientific Research (chaired by Bahrain), and the thirty-first meeting of the GCC Agricultural Cooperation Committee.
