HRH Premier chairs regular weekly Cabinet session

Manama, May 13 (BNA): His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa chaired the regular weekly Cabinet session, at the Gudaibiya Palace today. King’s UK visit lauded by Premier HRH the Prime Minister lauded the results of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa’s recent visit to the United Kingdom, and meeting with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland. HRH Premier stressed that the royal visit would contribute to strengthening the solid friendly Bahrain-UK relations further through opening up wider horizons of bilateral cooperation, and serve the two kingdoms’ common interests, a post-session statement by the Cabinet Secretary-General, Dr. Yasser bin Isa Al-Nasser, said. Royal visit to Egypt praised by Premier HRH the Prime Minister lauded the outcomes of HM King Hamad’s recent visit to brotherly Egypt, and talks with President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. The Premier highlighted the importance of the royal visit in strengthening Bahraini-Egyptian relations, as well as consolidating joint Arab action. Premier’s Kuwait visit praised The cabinet praised HRH the Prime Minister’s recent visit to sisterly Kuwait, and talks with HH Shaikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the Amir of Kuwait. The session welcomed the results of the Premier’s visit, and its importance in deepening the long-standing relations between the two countries’ leaderships, governments and peoples, stressing that it provided an opportunity to bolster the Bahraini-Kuwaiti cooperation in various fields for the best interests of the two countries and their brotherly peoples. Legislature’s ‘constructive’, ‘fruitful’ cooperation hailed HRH the Prime Minister lauded the “constructive and fruitful” cooperation of the Legislative Branch, including its two chambers, with the Executive Branch during the discussion of the draft-law on approving the General State Budget (2019-2020), praising the sense of responsibility and understanding showcased by the chairpersons and members of the Representatives and Shura councils, which, he said, contributed to speeding up the approval of the budget and to supporting the government’s efforts to implement the Fiscal Balance Programme. HRH Premier also paid tribute to government’s team to the specialised legislative committees in charge of discussing the draft-law on approving the General State Budget, extending thanks to them for the tremendous efforts they had exerted throughout the process. In this regard, the Minister of Finance and National Economy gave a presentation about the consensus reached by two chambers of the National Assembly and the government regarding the state budget bill. Saudi anti-terror successes highlighted The session hailed the success of sisterly Saudi Arabia in thwarting terrorist acts, tracking down terrorists and drying up the sources of terrorism. This re-affirms Saudi Arabia’s ability to counter terrorism, and protect the nation and the citizens from its dangers, as reflected in the success of the recent security operation carried out in the Island of Tarut’s Sanabis region in Al-Qatif, the cabinet said. Targeting of commercial ships denounced The cabinet condemned and denounced, in the strongest terms, the acts of sabotage to which commercial ships near United Arab Emirates territorial waters were subjected. The session condemned these acts reflecting the malignant intent of those who planned and carried them out, stressing that they lead to dangerous escalation in the region, and put the safety of maritime navigation and the lives of civilian crews working onboard ships and vessels at risk. Premier’s directives to support shrimpers discussed The session discussed the necessary procedures to implement HRH Premier’s directives to support shrimpers, including a recommendation by the Ministerial Committee for Development and Infrastructure Projects. It also reviewed a memorandum submitted by the Minister of Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning in this regard, and referred it to the Ministerial Committee for Financial, Economic and Fiscal Balance Affairs. Q1/2019 infrastructure projects’ progress reviewed HRH the Prime Minister gave directives to ensure that Bahraini contractors should have a greater share from the development projects in the kingdom. The Premier gave the directives while following up on the progress of the implementation progress of roads, sanitation and construction projects during the first quarter of 2019 (Q1/2019), In this regard, the session reviewed the implementation progress of 86 projects in the sectors of roads, sanitation and construction, with a total cost of BD 326 million. It was also informed that 93 projects, worth BD 67 million, had been put up to tender, including 22 tenders with a total cost of about BD 36 million, and 26 others that had been awarded at a total cost of about BD 9.5 million. TRA’s executive regulation on fees to be amended The cabinet approved the amendment of some provisions of the executive regulation on the fees imposed by the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) on licenses and other services. The move is in line with the Fourth National Telecommunications Plan, and its initiatives to develop the kingdom’s telecommunications infrastructure, including the establishment of a company for the fixed telecommunications infrastructure network. Under the amendment, a new fee for excellent licensing for the fixed telecommunications infrastructure networks will be created, and added to list 1 of fees. The cabinet endorsed an edict to be issued in this regard. Edict on regulating Lyrica pharmaceuticals’ dispensing endorsed The session discussed a draft resolution submitted by the Minister of Health concerning the procedures for regulating and controlling the dispensing of all pharmaceutical products containing “Lyrica”. The move is in line with the keenness to put regulations to control the dispensing of all pharmaceutical products similar to the drug, commonly known as “Lyrica”. The session referred the draft edict the Ministerial Committee for Legal and Legislative Affairs. Universal Postal Union’s documents to be ratified The cabinet endorsed a bill to ratify the Universal Postal Union (UPU)’s documents approved during UBU’s 24th, 25th and 26th conferences held in 2008, 2012 and 2016, respectively, as highlighted in the presentation given by the Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Ministerial Committee for Legal and Legislative Affairs. The draft-law was referred to the Legislative Branch, in accordance with the constitutional and legal procedures in force. Bahrain-Egypt customs cooperation agreement approved The session approved a draft-law to ratify a customs cooperation agreement, signed between Bahrain and Egypt during the meeting of the 10th High Joint Bahraini-Egyptian Committee , as outlined in the presentation given by the Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Ministerial Committee for Legal and Legislative Affairs. The bill was referred to the Legislative Branch, in accordance with the constitutional and legal procedures in force. MoU between BQA, MQR to be renewed The session approved the renewal of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Bahrain’s Education and Training Quality Authority (BQA) and the Malaysian Qualifications Register (MQR) for five years, in light of the presentation given by the Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications. The MoU aims to enhance cooperation between the two sides in matters relating to national qualifications frameworks, as well as professional development.