The Kingdom’s efforts to implement the recommendations of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) have been praised by the Cabinet, Secretary-General of the cabinet Dr. Yaser bin Essa Al Naser said.
Following the meeting, Chaired today at the Gudaibiya Palace by His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, in the presence of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister, Al Naser stated that the Cabinet reviewed a detailed report on the kingdom’s achievements regarding the implementation of BICI’s recommendations.
The cabinet affirmed that the Government of Bahrain has gone far beyond the implementation of those recommendations, noting that the government’s efforts in this regard have reflected positively on comprehensive reform programmes related to security, judiciary, Public Prosecution, labour policies, media, education and human rights.
HRH Premier called for the need to encourage holding specialised scientific and medical conferences in the kingdom in order to promote Bahrain’s pioneering position in medical fields, particularly cardiac diseases.
The cabinet praised the fruitful outcomes of the 11th Congress of the Gulf Heart Association and the fourth Congress of the Bahrain Heart Association, held here recently under the patronage of HRH Premier and opened on his behalf by the Deputy Premier Shaikh Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa.
The Cabinet discussed and approved a memorandum prepared by the Executive Committee, chaired by HRH Crown Prince on the ratification of the Certificate of Origin (CO).
The panel examined the obstacles that investors encounter when seeking a CO, giving the time needed for obtaining ratification at the Bahraini Consulates abroad.
To overcome these obstacles, the Executive Committee tasked the departments of Customs at both the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to coordinate electronically in order to facilitate all transactions shared between the two ministries before the 1st of April 2014.
The two ministries were also requested to submit proposals to amend the law on the issuance of the Certificate of Origin.
On the implementation of the government’s work plan for the years 2011 to 2014, HRH Premier directed to finalise service projects according to schedule and speed up the implementation of delayed ones.
In this context, the Cabinet discussed a memorandum presented by the Minister of State for Follow-up Affairs on the implementation of the government’s work plan.
The Minister gave a detailed account about the completed projects, the on-going ones, those whose period of completion was extended, or those that were delayed.
He also highlighted the performance indicators of the government’s work programme for the years 2011-2014.
The electronic follow-up system of the government’s work plan for the years 2011-2014 consisted of 935 projects representing 38 ministries and governmental entities.
The memorandum revealed that the percentage of completion in projects was 72% in the last quarter of 2013, while only 4% of the total number of projects was delayed.
The Cabinet decided to refer the memorandum to the concerned ministerial committee to handle obstacles and to achieve higher performance.
The Cabinet discussed the memorandum presented by the Minister of State for Defence Affairs and Chairman of the Supreme Council for Health on the establishment of a High Committee for Medical Treatment Abroad.
The committee aims to develop a strategy to standardise the regulations and procedures adopted in the Ministry of Health, the Military Hospital and the King Hamad University Hospital with regards to receiving medical treatment abroad and allocating the right budget.
It also aims to unify the programme of doctors visiting to the Kingdom to ensure that all hospitals benefit from their expertise
The Cabinet decided to refer the memorandum to the Ministerial Committee for Legal Affairs for further review.
It is to be noted that treatment abroad cost about BD 28 million in 2013 only, which reflects the government’s constant keenness to provide the best health care for the citizens inside and outside the country.
The cabinet requested the Ministerial Committee for Social Services, Media, Transportation and Communications to examine the activation of the Elderly Card, highlighted in the memo submitted by the Minister of Social Development.
The council of ministers also discussed three memoranda of understanding signed between the kingdom and Pakistan on bilateral cooperation, cooperation in the field of workforce and vocational training and cooperation in the fields of security, policing and combating terrorism and organised crime, and another agreement on encouraging and protecting joint investments, and referred them to the Ministerial Committee for Legal Affairs.
The memos were submitted by the Ministers of Interior and Foreign Affairs.
The Cabinet discussed another memo presented by the Minister of Works on the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the Ministry of Works in the Kingdom of Bahrain and the Standard and Industrial Research Institute of Malaysia (SIRIM).
The MoU aims to exchange expertise and information with the Institute in the field of construction and material specifications and quality assurance, in addition to strengthening ties and cooperation in common fields of interest.
The memorandum was referred to the concerned Ministerial Committee for further review.
The Cabinet discussed and approved another memorandum presented by the Minister of Education on the request made by the Arab Union for UNESCO-ISESCO-ALESCO clubs to the Kingdom of Bahrain to host the Sixth Arab Forum for UNESCO, ISESCO and ALECSO Clubs, and to the Third Global Forum for Centres and Associations of the UNESCO on September 21-23, 2014, in cooperation with the national committee of Bahrain for education, sciences, and culture, and the international union for the UNESCO clubs.
The cabinet also discussed ways of enhancing coordination among the three branches in order to make cooperation among them more organised.
In this regard, proposals to suspend the issuance of new permits for tourism activities in Al-Fateh District in Juffair, intensifying efforts to release Bahraini prisoners abroad and Gulf Air were discussed.
The cabinet also reviewed a report on the results of the recent official visit of the Minister of Interior to Austria.