Foreign Ministry Undersecretary meets UN official

New York: July 18 (BNA): The Undersecretary of International Affairs, Dr. Shaikh Abdulla Bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa, met with the Director of the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation, Mr. Jorge Chediek, in New York City, United States of America, on the sidelines of the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF). During the meeting, Dr. Shaikh Abdulla bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa stressed the importance of South-South cooperation as a vital and distinctive mechanism to enhance knowledge capacity building and digital technology to make the desired progress, also there are many areas available to improve sustainable economic growth, infrastructure, the use of renewable energy resources, advanced training programs, human development and others. The Undersecretary of International Affairs referred to a broad framework of South-South cooperation in various fields to achieve mutual benefits and development sharing of knowledge, skills, experience and resources, in addition to the establishment of meaningful partnerships, skills and resources in line with the seventeenth objective of enhancing means of implementation and revitalizing the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development 2030. Dr. Shaikh Abdulla Bin Ahmed Al Khalifa praised the contribution of the United Nations and its specialized agencies and programs in maximizing the benefits of South-South cooperation in order to create new and better opportunities for a better life, noting that the world recently celebrated the 40th anniversary of the adoption of the Buenos Aires Plan of Action for Promoting and Implementing Technical Cooperation Among Developing Countries under the normative and operational principles of such cooperation. The Undersecretary of International Affairs affirmed that the Kingdom of Bahrain with the leadership of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, at every opportunity, it is keen to promote positive cooperation with the United Nations in various fields and to strengthen capacity-building programs, the Kingdom also believes in the importance of the close link between security and development and the advancement of collective action mechanisms to meet common challenges. He reviewed the framework of cooperation between the Kingdom of Bahrain and the International Organization, which produced an extended and influential partnership, pointing out to the signing of the strategic partnership framework between the two sides for the years 2018-2022 to enhance the existing cooperation and prevent duplication of initiatives and projects, this is in line with the Government's work programs, the Bahrain Economic Vision 2030, and the alignment of the goals of sustainable development 2030, it will also contribute to the exchange of experiences and experiences of the Kingdom of Bahrain abroad and bring international expertise to the Kingdom. He also commended the joint cooperation between the Kingdom of Bahrain and the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation in organizing the High Level Forum for the Middle East and North Africa on Green Economy, held from 2 to 4 July, 2019 in Manama. He stressed the importance of taking advantage of the meetings of the high-level political forum to be held this year under the theme of "Empowering individuals, ensuring inclusion and equality." emphasizeing that the Kingdom of Bahrain's achievements in implementing the goals of sustainable development, showing the first national voluntary report, presented in July 2018, making the Kingdom a global development model, full of qualitative achievements and creative initiatives. From his part, the Director of the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation, Mr. Jorge Chediek said that South-South cooperation contributed in achieving higher rates of economic growth and sustainable development, praising Bahrain's pioneering development model and the Kingdom's keenness to build a distinct partnership with the United Nations in the context of supporting development strategies and indicators, valuing the outputs of the strategic partnership framework in order to achieve the goals of sustainable development 2030.