This is a common goal which requires everybody, who will take part in the dialogue, to participate effectively and place the national interest above anything else.
This was stated by HRH the Prime Minister during the weekly cabinet meeting and highlighted the impact of the dialogue success in enhancing political, economic and social development in Bahrain.
“We hope the national dialogue will be, as wanted by His Majesty the King, a new chapter in national work,” His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa said.
He also hailed the visit of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa to Hidd where he met Bahraini families stressing that the royal visit reflects outstanding unity between the leadership and people. Within the same context, HRH the Prime Minister pointed out his recent visit to Muharraq where he met citizens and services ministers to closely follow-up on government services and ways of optimizing them.
He underlined the leadership’s keenness to foster social unity and instructed ministers to maintain direct contact with citizens, listen to their grievances and solve problems through mainly field visits. HRH the Premier emphasized the need to avoid duplicity in government work to save efforts by intensifying coordination among ministries and government bodies.
He urged to ensure projects take into consideration available resources and future needs. The cabinet approved setting up a national social fund, affiliated with the Minister of Human Rights and Social Development that will benefit children, people with special needs and the elderly. The move is in line with the government’s keenness to provide care for these categories and broaden the social development umbrella. The ministerial council agreed to raise Bahrain Development Bank’s capital by BD 15 million, from BD 50 million to BD 65 million, in order to enable it to enlarge its activities and cover other economic sectors like industry, health, education and fishing. The decision is in line with the government’s efforts to fund projects with added value as well as small and medium ones. The cabinet agreed to authorize the Arabian Sugar Company to build and operate a 9-megawatt electrical power station to use it in purifying sugar. The move is in line with law decree 1 for 1996 regarding electricity and water and a memorandum forwarded by the Energy Minister. The council approved a draft law to ratify an agreement between Bahrain and Czech Republic on avoiding double taxation and fiscal evasion.