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.
HRH Premier extends thanks to HM King, HRH Crown Prince
HRH the Prime Minister extended deepest thanks and appreciation to His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa for the noble feelings he had expressed during his treatment abroad, as well as his visit to him at his residence and constant follow-up.
The Prime Minister also paid tribute to HRH the Crown Prince for his interest and visit to him to get assured about his health.
HRH Premier saluted the citizens and residents for the overwhelming feelings of joy and happiness they had expressed through various media outlets and social media networks following his recovery.
In this regard, the cabinet expressed extreme joy over HRH Premier’s recovery and wellness, praying to Allah the Almighty to protect him so as to continue the development and progress march in the kingdom, Cabinet Secretary-General, Dr. Yasser bin Isa Al-Nasser, said in a statement following the session, which was held remotely.
Premier lauds King’s address to students
The Prime Minister lauded HM the King’s keynote address to students, and noted that it has motivated the teaching and educational staff to continue exerting more efforts amid the current circumstances created by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), hailing the royal directives to be committed to the national approach on placing national interests above everything else.
National efforts to combat COVID-19 lauded
While following up on the national measures to combat coronavirus, HRH Premier commended the efforts exerted by HRH Crown Prince to contain COVID-19, and praised the effective pre-emptive measures taken to curb the virus spread.
The Prime Minister also extended thanks to government departments and the private sector for their keenness to meet the needs of the citizens during these exceptional circumstances, paying tribute to the medical and nursing staff for the brave role they are playing, and to the Bahraini people for their awareness and commendable commitment to the measures in force.
Directives to ensure food sufficiency, control prices during Ramadan
HRH Premier gave directives to the Industry, Commerce and Tourism Ministry to provide sufficient consumer goods during the holy month of Ramadan, and to continue monitoring the market to ensure balance between quality and prices.
Commenting on a report submitted by the Industry, Commerce and Tourism Minister on the preparations of the Ministry to provide goods and increase the kingdom’s strategic stockpiles of them, HRH Premier also instructed to intensify inspection campaigns to combat price manipulation.
Cabinet welcomes Arab Coalition’s ceasefire announcement in Yemen
The cabinet welcomed the ceasefire announced by the Joint Command of the Arab Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen, lauding the humanitarian reason behind this initiative, amid the conditions Yemen and the world are going through because of COVID-10 pandemic, expressing hope that the Houthi group would respond positively to the Coalition’s humanitarian move so as to achieve security and peace, and ensure reaching a comprehensive political solution.
OPEC, non-OPEC meeting outcomes welcomed
The session welcomed the outcomes of the extraordinary OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting, under the chairmanship of Saudi Arabia, noting that the agreement will contribute to restoring balance to oil markets.
The cabinet also lauded the agreement reached by G20, led by Saudi Arabia, to support oil markets and step up international coordination to counter the coronavirus pandemic.
Private educational institutions’ fees discussed
The cabinet discussed, based on HRH Premier’s directives, a number of recommendations pertaining to ways to reduce the study fees required by private educational institutions in order to alleviate the burden on parents, amid the current exceptional circumstances and the challenges caused by COVID-19 outbreak.
It also tasked the Ministry of Education to continue urging private schools and universities to take into consideration the conditions of parents, extending thanks to those which had already expressed their readiness to reduce their fees.
The session was commenting on a report presented by the Minister of Education on the Ministry’s efforts and contacts with private schools and universities in this regard.
The report showed that many private schools had agreed to reduce the fees by 5 to 10%, postpone the payment of the second term’s installments to September for willing parents, re-schedule the required fees for some parents, as well as exempt them from some services the students hadn’t benefitted from, such as transport, food and extra-curricular activities. Those who had already paid for such services would be refunded, or had them removed from next academic year’s fees.
The cabinet also mandated the Ministerial Committee for Financial, Economic and Fiscal Balance Affairs to study the conditions of kindergartens and their women staff.
Private sector employees to receive three months’ salaries
The cabinet agreed to pay the salaries of Bahraini workers, who are subject to the Social Insurance Law, for a period of three months, starting from April 2020, from the surplus of the Insurance against Unemployment Fund and by a maximum amount of the insured salary.
The session instructed the competent authorities to take the necessary procedures in light of the memorandum submitted for this purpose by the Minister of Finance and National Economy.
New article to be added to Decree 54/2019
The session discussed a new decree stipulating the addition of a new article to Decree 54/2019 on the establishment of the Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa Academy for Diplomatic Studies.
The cabinet reviewed the recommendation of the Ministerial Committee for Legal and Legislative Affairs in this regard, presented by the panel chairman, and decided to return it to the same committee for further study.
Commercial Register Law to be amended
The session agreed to amend the Commercial Register Law, and decided to refer it the Council of Representatives, in a matter of urgency, in accordance with constitutional and legal procedures in force.
The amendment, allowing the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism to transfer the central commercial registration services of the closed joint stock companies from the competent directorate at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism to the Bahrain Clear Company owned by the Bahrain Bourse, aims to ensure more transparency and flexibility in managing closed joint stock companies and providing additional services without prejudice to the specificity of those companies, as recommended by the Ministerial Committee for Legal and Legislative Affairs, and presented by the deputy premier and committee chairman.
Clubs to be affiliated with Labour Ministry
The Cabinet agreed to transfer the affiliation of the Al-Oruba Club, the Alumni Club, and the Aviation and Travel Club from the Ministry of Youth and Sports Affairs to the Ministry of Labour and Social Development, and that the latter will be the competent administrative authority for which they report, in light of the recommendation submitted for this purpose by the by the Ministerial Committee for Legal and Legislative Affairs, and presented by the deputy premier and committee chairman.
Ministries, government departments urged to speed up digital transformation
The session urged ministries and government departments to speed up their digital transformation and apply electronic systems to provide their services, procedures and transactions.
In this regard, the cabinet praised the inauguration of electronic judicial and legal services at the Ministry of Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments, as highlighted in the Justice Minister’s memorandum, thus shifting from the use of the traditional systems to the use of modern and advanced electronic systems and methods in all transactions, in line with the government’s programme to facilitate litigation procedures and the provision of judicial services.
New individuals, entities added to Bahrain’s terror list
The cabinet agreed to update the Bahrain terror list by adding more individuals and entities related to terrorism financing, in light of the memorandum submitted in this regard by the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
The session reviewed the on-going efforts made to use electronic technology to train workers and volunteers affiliated with civil and charitable societies subject to the supervision of the Ministry of Labour and Social Development, and to qualify them to obtain professional certificates in financial management through a remote electronic training e-platform that was launched in cooperation with the Institute of Public Administration (BIPA).
The move is also in line with the recommendation of the Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force (MENAFATF) on combating the financing of terrorism in the non-profit organisations’ sector.
In this regard, Labour and Social Development Minister gave a presentation about the e-platform initiative to train NGOs remotely to increase their financial management efficiency.
Parliamentary proposals
The session approved a proposal submitted by the Council of Representatives to re-plan and revamp the Riffa Central Market, in addition to another on allowing the admission of graduates of the technical and vocational education programme at the University of Bahrain.
The Cabinet endorsed the government’s response to a proposal regarding a specialised hospital in the Southern Governorate.