The Cabinet has extended congratulations to His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa on being granted the Shield of the Federation of World Peace and Love (FOWPAL) in recognition of his landmark contribution to promoting the traditions of peace, tolerance and diversity.

On behalf of the Cabinet, Deputy Premier, HH Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa voiced pride in the global award that crowns the Prime Minister’s efforts and compassion in the humanitarian field through consolidating the pillars of the values of peace, tolerance and rapprochement among peoples, regardless of their religions or cultural identities, as well as through denouncing conflicts, hatred and the threats of extremism and terrorism.

The well-deserved honouring bestowed on HRH Premier adds to the kingdom’s rich record and distinguished status regarding diversity, co-existence and pluralism, attained during His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa’s prosperous era, the deputy premier said.

This came as HRH the Prime Minister chaired the regular weekly Cabinet session, at the Gudaibiya Palace today.

The session extended deepest congratulations to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Saudi Crown Prince, Deputy Premier and Defence Minister, HRH Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, and the brotherly Saudi people, on the 87th National Day of their country, a statement by the Cabinet Secretary-General, Dr Yasser bin Isa Al-Nasser said.
The Cabinet lauded the progress boom witnessed by Saudi Arabia in various fields thanks to the wise leadership of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, wishing it further progress and prosperity under its leadership.
The session stressed that the deep-rooted Bahraini-Saudi relations are progressing steadily thanks to the directives of their leaderships.

HRH the Prime Minister, while reviewing citizen-oriented services, gave directives to the Housing Ministry to meet the housing needs of "Al Qurayyah" villagers through a housing project, and within the Northern City.
The Premier also instructed the ministry to meet the housing needs of the Askar villagers as soon as possible.

While reviewing the memoranda on the session’s agenda, HRH Premier gave directives to remove all obstacles delaying the implementation of government-funded projects through putting forward solutions that would reduce the negative effects of impediments to the implementation progress.

Commenting on a report presented by Deputy Premier and Chairman of the Ministerial Committee for Urbanisation and Infrastructure, Shaikh Khalid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, on the committee’s achievements, the Prime Minister commended the role played by the panel’s chairman and members for their coordination with government departments regarding the strategic projects currently implemented within the Government Action Plan.

The report highlighted the resolutions taken by the Ministerial Committee for Urbanisation and Infrastructure during 110 meetings held between January 2016 and June 2017 in order to achieve the goals set in HRH Premier’s edict on establishing it and determining its terms of reference.

The cabinet approved a plan to re-structure the Bahrain Polytechnic.
According to a memorandum presented by the Deputy Premier and Deputy Chairman of the Civil Service Council, the new-look organisational structure consists of an Executive Director, as well as a Deputy Executive Director for Academic Affairs, and another for Resources and Information.
Three directorates will report to each deputy executive director, and a Quality and Metrology Directorate will report directly to the Executive Director.

Tackling employment issues, HRH the Prime Minister gave instructions to continue launching incentives and programmes that encourage employers to recruit Bahrainis and make them the best option in the employment process, directing to develop more programmes for Bahraini job-seekers to qualify them for the labour market.
Commenting on a memorandum submitted by the Labour and Social Development Minister on the labour market’s indicators during the first half of this year, HRH Premier commended the efforts exerted by the ministry in coordination with the relevant authorities to support and encourage qualitative and value added training and employment opportunities for Bahrainis in the private sector.
The minister’s memorandum showed stability in the unemployment rate by 4.2 per cent. It also revealed that the workforce peaked in size at nearly 768,000 in the first half of 2017, with the private sector employing 65 per cent of the national workforce.
The indicators also show that about 3,500 nationals benefited from training programmes, and that the average salaries of Bahrainis rose by 3.6 per cent in the private sector, reaching BD 407. It also showed that the average salaries reached BD 691 in the public sector.

The session discussed a proposal to support foreign investments in the kingdom and stimulate world companies to invest in some commercial activities according to a set of criteria and requirements.
HRH Premier tasked the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism to study the proposal with the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) in rendition of its role, being the competent side in this matter.

The session reviewed four draft-laws prepared based on proposals submitted by the Council of Representatives, including a draft-law on amending Article 43 of Law on Regulating the Retirement Pensions and Benefits for the Officers and Servicemen of Bahrain Defence Force and Public Security promulgated by Decree-Law 11/1976, a bill on amending Article 144 of the Social Insurance Law, promulgated by Decree-Law 24/1976, a draft-law on amending Article 77 of Law 13/1975 on Pensions, Retirement Indemnities for Government Officials and Employees, and a draft-law on amending Article 31 of Law 15/2007 on narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.
The bills were referred to the Legislative Branch, along with memoranda explaining the government’s opinion on each of them.

Source: BNA