Cabinet hails solid ties with GCC countries

Manama, Mar. 6 (BNA): His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa chaired the regular weekly Cabinet session, attended by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Premier. The session lauded Bahrain's keenness to enhance cooperation, complementarity and coordination with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries at the bilateral and multilateral levels, noting that the kingdom's recent efforts in this regard have been successful, have yielded fruitful results and have achieved noble objectives, a statement by the Cabinet Secretary-General, Dr. Yasser bin Isa Al-Nasser said. Bahrain's policies towards the GCC have been clearly manifested in the visits of HRH the Prime Minister and HRH the Crown Prince to the State of Qatar and the State of Kuwait recently, the session said. The Cabinet lauded the fruitful outcomes of HRH Premier's official visit to Qatar at the invitation of Father Amir, HH Shaikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, and praised his talks with the Qatari Amir, HH Shaikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, as well as with senior state officials there. The session also hailed the results of HRH Crown Prince's visit to Kuwait and his talks with the Kuwaiti Amir, HH Shaikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al Sabah, as well as those of his visit to Qatar and his talks with the Amir, HH Shaikh Tamim. While informing the session about his fruitful talks with the Qatari leadership, HRH the Prime Minister expressed deep pride in the gracious welcome accorded to him in the State of Qatar at the official and popular levels, which, he said, reflects the specific nature of the distinguished Bahraini-Qatari relations. HRH the Crown Prince informed the Cabinet about the positive outcomes of his talks with the leaderships of Kuwait and Qatar, noting that they strengthened the existing exemplary cooperation between Bahrain and the two brotherly countries. The session underscored the importance of such visits in enhancing the ability to face the economic, political and security challenges created by the regional and global developments. HRH the Prime Minister recalled with appreciation and gratitude the virtues, achievements and qualities of the late Amir Shaikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, May Allah the Almighty rest his soul in eternal peace. The Prime Minister affirmed that the great contributions of the late Shaikh Isa, whose death anniversary is commemorated today, to the kingdom's progres, and his services to his people and nation will remain engraved in the national memory. In this regard, HRH Premier gave directives to document the achievements and giving of Bahraini men and women and their dedicated efforts in the service of their country and people. Referring to the approval of the Representatives and Shura Councils of the constitutional amendments, HRH the Prime Minister lauded the legislative branch's cooperation, and valued highly its "responsible" role in backing efforts to increase the efficiency of the measures that safeguard the kingdom's security, integrity and stability, as reflected in the amendments. HRH Prime Minister gave instructions to improve the procedures in force regarding small financial claims, as well as the implementation of the court rulings related to them, through using electronic means, and directed the Executive Committee, chaired by HRH the Crown Prince, to study the matter. Reviewing the memoranda on its agenda, the Cabinet endorsed a recommendation by the Supreme Committee for Natural Resources and Economic Security, chaired by HRH the Crown Prince, regarding the proposal of the National Oil and Gas Authority (NOGA) on funding the new plant for processing associated gas. A subsidiary of the Bahrain National Gas Company (Banagas), the new facility will extract liquefied gas from associated gas, and re-inject excess gas into the field in order to increase the overall capacity of Banagas, a memorandum presented by the Oil Minister explained. The session also reviewed a memorandum presented by the Minister of Education on making amendments to Decree-Law 25/1998 with respect to Private Educational and Training Institutions. Aiming to encourage investment in the private educational and training institutions within a set of requirements that ensure the quality of their output, the proposed amendments were referred to the Supreme Council for the Development of Education and Training and the Ministerial Committee for Legal Affairs. The session was also informed about the ability of the government's quarry to meet the needs of the urban projects, and was notified about the procedures to run and operate the facility by the Ministry of Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning, along with the company which was awarded the tender. The session also took note of the implementation procedures of the memorandum of understanding on mutual exemption from visa fees for the holders of normal passports signed between Bahrain and Turkey on the sidelines of the Turkish President's visit to Bahrain, as highlighted in the memorandum presented by the Interior Minister. The Cabinet reviewed a memorandum presented by the Minister of Information Affairs on the requests to issue specialised sports magazines, and referred it to the Ministerial Committee for Social Services, Telecommunications and Media. The session also reviewed two draft laws proposed by the Council of Representatives on amending Article 137 of Decree-Law 54/2002 on the By-Law of the Council of Representatives, and on amending some provisions of Law 37/2014 on regulating marine sand dredging. The two bills were referred to the legislative branch, alongside a memorandum including the government's opinion. The Cabinet discussed a proposal submitted by the Council of Representatives to establish a special section at the Bahrain National Museum that would be dedicated to Bahrain's national work pioneers in the cultural, social, economic and political fields. The session approved the government's draft reply to the proposal which had been prepared by the Ministerial Committee for Legal Affairs.