Manama: The Kingdom of Bahrain will continue to extend an utmost care to the Pakistani community throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, including healthcare, testing, vaccinations, visa extensions and support, and that Bahrain will continue to do all that is needed to assure the safety and health of its citizens and residents.
This was stated by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Abdullatif Bin Rashid Al Zayani, who led the Bahraini side during the meeting held in Manama, while the Pakistani side was led by the Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
The 2nd Meeting of the Bahrain-Pakistan Joint Ministerial Commission was held on 28-29 July 2021 in Manama.
This comes within the framework of the agreement to establish a Joint Ministerial Commission, which was signed between the two countries in 2014.
Dr. Al Zayani welcomed the Pakistani delegation and expressed his keen interest in furthering the deep-rooted bilateral relationship between the two countries.
He highlighted the importance of high-level visits, which contributed to strengthening and consolidating those relations, recalling the visit of His Majesty King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa to Pakistan in February 2014, and the visit to the Kingdom of Bahrain by Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on 16 December 2019.
Dr. Al Zayani commended the contribution of the expatriate Pakistani community to the Kingdom’s development, which comes in line with the humanitarian directives of His Majesty the King, and in accordance with true Bahraini values and principles.
He also expressed that he looks forward to constructive and productive discussions on these issues, and the opportunity to explore areas of cooperation and to operationalize existing agreements and MoUs, in order to reach the best outcomes in this meeting.
Qureshi thanked the Bahraini side for the warm welcome and hospitality extended to Dr Al Zayani and his delegation.
He highlighted the longstanding relations between the Kingdom of Bahrain and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, characterized by a spirit of friendship and solidarity.
He further observed that the experience and expertise acquired by both countries in many spheres over time could be shared for their mutual benefit. He emphasized the need to expand economic ties between the two countries.
The two sides highlighted the importance of the regular meetings of established bilateral mechanisms and high-level bilateral visits, recalling the successful visit to the Kingdom of Bahrain by Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on 16 December 2019, and the landmark State visit of His Majesty King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa to Pakistan in February 2014, which laid a strong foundation to build a close partnership between the two countries, and the visit of HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Prime Minister to Pakistan in December 2006.
The meeting focused on bilateral cooperation in various sectors including political, economic, commerce, finance and banking, industry, public health, overseas employment, higher education, science and technology, information, culture and arts, agriculture and livestock and technical cooperation.
Both sides held fruitful discussions and agreed to work together for B2B interaction between businessmen of two sides, finalization of MoU between Trade Development Authority Pakistan and Bahrain Tourism and Exhibition Authority, cooperation for joint investment in industrial sector and holding expert level meetings of joint working groups in agriculture, Trade and Investment, labour and manpower, oil and gas sector and IT sector, as well as higher education.
On the sidelines of the JMC, an MoU between the Bahrain Development Board (EDB) and Board of Investment of Pakistan was also signed to promote bilateral investment between the two friendly countries.
Both sides also resolved to implement the decisions reached during the 2nd Session expeditiously and finalize at the earliest, the MoUs/Agreements under consideration. Both sides agreed in principle to hold the 3rd Meeting of Pakistan-Bahrain Joint Ministerial Commission in Islamabad next year.
