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UAE-Bahraini joint committee meeting concluded

In the meeting’s concluding speech, Sheikh Abdullah affirmed the two countries’ willingness to step up cooperation in all fields, in a way that will meet aspirations of their people, under the wise leadership of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and their keenness to further cooperation.

“The two countries took part in the GCC summit, held in Kuwait last week, and both had a positive role in tabling constructive proposals, enabling the summit to come up with important decisions and recommendations for the benefits of the peoples of GCC countries,” he said.

Sheikh Abdullah indicated that the 6^th meeting of the committee was held amid great interest in the two countries to take further steps towards strengthening economic and investment relations. He added that the meeting’s agenda contained important topics relating to various issues.

He said the topics included means to enforce diplomatic and consular cooperation agreement and the two Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) signed earlier on military and higher education cooperation. Other topics included cooperation in oil and gas, the Businessmen Council, control on precious stone trading and coordinating stances on the issues relating to the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

Sheikh Abdullah revealed that the two-way trade between the UAE and Bahrain accounted for AED 9 billion in 2008.

“We seek to increase volume of trade exchange in the years to come. The joint committee meetings represent a perfect platform to explore opportunities for joint investments, especially for the private sector institutions,” he added.

Sheikh Abdullah expressed the hope that the two countries will continue to hold such meetings to further strengthen bonds.

For his part, the Bahraini Foreign Minister the two countries enjoy strong and special fraternal ties thanks to the keenness and unlimited support by their leadership. He expressed his country’s desire to develop cooperation with the UAE for the interest of their peoples.

Sheikh Abdullah and Sheikh Khalid signed the meeting’s minutes at the end of the session.

The two countries signed an MOU on mutual recognition of certificates from UAE’s National Transport Authority and Bahrain’s General Organisation of Sea Ports. Another MOU was signed on coordination in protection of environment, marine eco-systems and wildlife.

In a joint statement, the two countries expressed satisfaction at the levels of cooperation achieved within the committee.

According to the statement, the two countries agreed to study MOUs on consumer protection, trading and stamping of precious stones, increasing exchange of visits by trade delegations and members of chambers of commerce.

The two sides praised the ‘fruitful’ cooperation in energy, manifested in Mubadala’s participation in the development of Bahraini oil fields. They also welcomed the MOU signed by Bahrain’s National Oil and Gas Authority (NOGA) and Masdar.

The two sides reviewed the projects to be implemented by Federal Water & Electricity Authority (FEWA), especially in the fields of energy and water transport, electricity and renewable energy.

They also expressed willingness to organise workshops and seminars on the goals of women organisations and to exchange expertise on capacity building, benefiting from the sessions held by the UAE’s Women’s General Union on integrating women requirements in the national planning process.

The statement said that the two countries were considering formation of a technical committee on civil services.

They agreed to hold the next committee meeting in Abu Dhabi in 2010.

• UAE