National e-Platform inaugurated

Undersecretary of International Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr Shaikh Abdulla bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, inaugurated the national e-platform for the membership of the Kingdom in regional and international organisations and bodies.   This came during the first meeting of the members of the National Network for International Affairs, which was held yesterday at the General Court at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in the presence of representatives of the ministries and concerned authorities in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

In his opening speech at the inauguration ceremony, Dr Shaikh Abdulla said: “The national platform aims to enhance Bahrain’s diplomatic efforts, and activate its membership in all regional and international organisations, in addition to follow up on its various international partnerships, thus contributing to the development and co-ordination of programmes and actions to achieve the desired objectives.”

The Undersecretary stated that the National Network of International Affairs was formed in all ministries and official authorities in the Kingdom as the outcome of a specialised workshop to strengthen the partnership between the Kingdom and the United Nations organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 27 March 2019. It is also part of the implementation of the decisions of the Ministerial Committee for Financial, Economic and Fiscal Balance Affairs, he noted.

The leading official indicated that the network aims to find common points of contact, to explore new opportunities and diverse areas with international organisations and their specialised agencies, to overcome obstacles of co-ordination and communication, to ensure the payment of mandatory financial contributions of the Kingdom in accordance with their deadlines, and to seek to reduce some government expenditures by reassessing voluntary contributions and other actions.

Dr Shaikh Abdulla asserted that the platform launch in its current form represents the first phase of a series of sequential stages to build a strategic national model aimed at enhancing the governance of our international partnership, and achieving the Bahrain Economic Vision 2030 and the Government Action Programme. In this regard, he reviewed the efforts made several years ago to gather and compile the information required to obtain the current database, and then analyse and categorise it according to specific and professional criteria.

The Undersecretary affirmed that the Kingdom, under the leadership of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, is at the forefront of the world in interacting with the purposes and principles of the United Nations for maintaining international peace and security, and achieving sustainable development goals 2030.