Public-private partnership ‘key for development’

Cabinet Affairs Minister Mohammed Al Mutawa underlined the great importance accorded by the Bahraini government to partnership between the public and private sectors, as one of the pillars of the Economic Vision 2030 and the achievement of the sustainable development goals (SDGs).

He added the report of the Arab Forum for Environment and Development (AFED) revealed that the Arab countries need $230 billion to be added to their initial annual expenditure to reach SDGs, which is hard for the governments to provide such fund. Therefore, he noted, the Kingdom of Bahrain started setting partnerships with private sector institutions in various fields like housing programmes and health and educational services.

He emphasised the impossibility to maintain sustainable development without sustainable funding. The Cabinet Affairs Minister was speaking in the opening of the 5th edition of Bahrain Excellence Forum which is organised under his patronage by Act Smart Public Relations Consultancy on October 23 and 24. The forum’s Secretary General Dr Fahad Ibrahim Al Shehabi said the region is witnessing geo-political changes which affected oil prices and had a negative impact on the states’ budgets.

Addressing the forum, which is held this year under the theme “Excellence Through Partnership between the Public and Private Sectors”, he emphasised Bahrain’s capability to face all those challenges through many solutions, including the Fiscal Balance Programme which had as one of its tools the Voluntary Retirement Programme.

He thanked the Cabinet Affairs Minister for patronising the forum for five consecutive years. He also thanked the Labour Fund (Tamkeen), the forum’s strategic partner.