During the ceremony, the Labour Minister delivered a statement in which he extended sincere congratulations to HM King Hamad, His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa and His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander, marking the National and Accession Days.
He said that the ceremony, aiming to celebrate the values of work, production and excellence, is an opportunity to honour national cadres and their landmark contributions in the service of the homeland, expressing pride in the dedication and hard work of Bahraini workers, directors, administrators and work pioneers in all private sector establishments.
He also paid tribute to expatriate workers, from different nationalities, for their contributions, along with the national workforce, to the kingdom’s development and progress marches.
Regarding the latest labour developments, especially those resulting from the regretful incidents of 2011, Humaidan asserted that the joint efforts of the production sides have helped implement the wise leadership’s vision to enhance tripartite cooperation and social dialogue in order to address all issues and come up with the right solutions, stressing the need to denounce division, keep trade unions away from political and sectarian polarization and promote the values of fraternity, love and tolerance reinforced by HM the King.
He pointed out that those efforts and cooperation between all sides have helped the kingdom overcome the repercussions of those incidents, adding that the reinstatement of sacked workers, the kingdom’s ability to maintain unemployment rates at secure levels and the labour market’s continuous ability to generate suitable job opportunities for national job seekers have been among the landmark results.
He also stressed the need to consolidate mutual trust and support trade unions in order to be able to assume their duties through adherence to national fundamentals, particularly rallying behind the wise leadership, protecting the workers’ righters, resolving problems within a national framework and rejection of foreign interference.
He also highlighted the Labour Ministry’s plans to train, rehabilitate and recruit Bahrainis for 2013-2014, noting that creating suitable job opportunities for Bahraini job seekers top the agenda of the Ministry.
He also expressed optimism that the kingdom will be able to face all challenges and overcome the impacts of the regretful incidents through fostering national unity and consolidating national security and stability.
The Labour Minister called for the need to step up joint efforts to preserve the kingdom’s prestigious reputation and promote the milestone political, economic, legislative, human rights and labour strides attained thanks to HM King Hamad’s pioneering Reform Project.
Jamel Ibrahim Mohammed Jassim spoke on behalf of the honorees and affirmed that HM the King’s patronage of the ceremony testifies to his constant support for workers in different fields, out of HM’s belief that they are the real asset of the nation.
He also commended the government’s efforts to create job opportunities that appeal to national job-seekers and keep the unemployment rate at secure levels, hailing the Labour Ministry’s policies to train and rehabilitee the national work force, as well as its mechanisms to recruit workers.
The Labour Minister Jameel Humaidan and Undersecretary Sabah Salim Al Dosary presented the honourees with certificates and awards.
The scroll of honour included six prominent pioneers, 10 outstanding administrators, four well-performing companies in fields of Bahrainisation, professional safety and recruitment of workers with special needs, two well-performing companies in improving salaries of Bahraini workers, one small-scale entrepreneur, six non-organised economy workers and 4 workers with special needs.
Other honourees represented the sectors of oil and gas (4), manufacturing industries (14), transportation and stores (8), banking, finance and insurance (9), contracting sector (10), trade (24), hospitality -restaurants and hotels- ( 5) and social activities (8).