Cabinet lauds fruitful executive-legislative cooperation

The Cabinet has lauded the achievements of the executive and legislative branches during the third session of the fourth legislative term, thanks to their fruitful cooperation at the legislative and monitoring levels.
The outstanding achievements included mainly the ratification and issuance of the Family Law, the general state budget for the two fiscal years 2017 and 2018, and the Alternative Penalties and Procedures Law, the session said.
The Cabinet lauded the cooperation of the Council of Representatives and the Shura Council with the government in order to maximize national achievements, thus consolidating the kingdom’s parliamentary experience as one of the outcomes of National Project spearheaded by His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.

This came as 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, at the Gudaibiya Palace today.

HRH the Prime Minister praised the participation of HRH the Crown Prince in the opening ceremony of the Mohammad Najeeb Military Base in Egypt, a post-session statement by the Cabinet Secretary-General, Dr. Yasser bin Isa Al-Nasser said.

HRH Premier extended congratulations to the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi on the base opening, lauding the Mohammad Najeeb Military Base as the largest of its kind in the Middle East and as a new accomplishment in Egypt’s outstanding military record.

The session expressed its support to the measures taken by Saudi Arabia to safeguard its security and stability, as well as those of the region, particularly regarding its efforts to root out terrorism and dry up its sources through successful security operations, including the recent one in Qatif.

Commenting on Al-Abdali terror cell in Kuwait, the Cabinet stressed its full-fledged support to the measures taken by Kuwait against the cell, reiterating Bahrain’s full standing and solidarity with Kuwait in confronting anything that may target its security and stability.

HRH the Prime Minister gave directives to six ministries representing service sectors, including the Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning Minister, Health Minister, Education Minister, Labour and Social Development Minister and Youth and Sports Affairs Minister to make field visits to Umm Al-Hassam, Duraz and other villages on the Budaiya Highway to identify the needs of the residents, follow up on the projects being implemented, and address shortcomings, if any, in facilities, roads, sanitation, health centres, youth centres, schools and housing.

Tackling tourism, HRH Premier gave directives to develop the sector and diversify tourism events in order to provide wider options for tourists visiting the kingdom.

Commenting on tourism sector indicators, the Prime Minister gave instructions to continue adopting initiatives and programmes to increase the kingdom’s tourism attraction potentials and contribute to revitalising the sector.

Statistics showed a steady growth in the tourism sector as reflected in the increase of the sector’s contributions to the Kingdom’s gross domestic product (GDP) from 3.4 per cent in 2015 to 6.1 per cent in the end of 2016, as well as in the increase of residence nights per tourist from 1.7 to 2.8 nights.

Reviewing the memoranda on its agenda, the Cabinet expressed satisfaction with the significant 4.3 per cent growth attained by the non-oil sector, affirming the government’s keenness on increasing the sector’s contributions, given its importance in enhancing economic growth.
In this context, the session reviewed the main economic indicators of the first quarter of this year.

A memorandum presented by the Industry, Commerce and Tourism Minister showed that the Kingdom’s GDP had grown by 2.8 per cent, and that the value added of its GDP had reached BD three billion.

Meanwhile, the trade deficit decreased by 109 per cent in the first quarter of 2017, compared with the same quarter of 2016, with exports posting an annual growth of 22.4 per cent, imports increasing by 7.4 per cent and the total non-oil trade volume reaching BD 1.85 billion.
The economic indicators of the first quarter of 2017 also revealed that a total of 30 investment licenses, worth BD 17 million, had been issued.

The session discussed amending the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Law.
Under the amendment, some service providers whose work includes precursors shall be allowed to import, export and transport these substances under the supervision of the Ministry of Health. It also stipulates the merger of the terms of reference of the National Committee for Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Affairs and the National Committee on Combating Drugs, under the chairmanship of the Interior Minister.

Including some organisational regulations related to the relevant Health Ministry sides, the bill on amending some provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Law, presented by the Health Minister, was referred to the Ministerial Committee for Legal Affairs for further study.

The Cabinet reviewed a draft-law on amending some provisions of the Judicial Authority Law promulgated by Decree-law 42/2002, proposed by the Council of Representatives, and referred it to the parliament, along with a memorandum on the government’s opinion, in accordance with the constitutional and legal procedures in force.

The session also discussed a number of proposals, and endorsed the draft government’s replies, as prepared by the Ministerial Committee for Legal Affairs.

The proposals were related to the auction of special vehicle number plates, traffic lanes, investment of part of the funds of the General Organisation of Social Insurance and amateur fishermen’s services.

Source: Fana News