*** ----> Ministerial panel to look into investment norms | THE DAILY TRIBUNE | KINGDOM OF BAHRAIN

Ministerial panel to look into investment norms

Prime Minister HRH Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa presided over the Cabinet meeting at Gudaibiya Palace yesterday.

On investment, the Prime Minister tasked the Ministerial Committee for Financial Affairs and Rationalising Expenditure to follow up on the implementation of the practical and technical procedures he had ordered during his recent open meeting with businessmen and investors. The move aimed at ensuring fast-tracked issuance of investors’ licences at the Bahrain Investors’ Centre and Municipal One Stop Shop, Secretary-General of the Cabinet Dr Yaser bin Essa Al Nasser said in a statement following the session.

The Premier praised the success of Jewellery Arabia 2015, and commended the efforts of the organisers and security authorities in this regard, highlighting the importance of such specialised exhibitions in enhancing the Kingdom’s status as a hub of the conferences and exhibitions industry. The Premier also underscored the importance of the GCC e-Government 

Conference and Exhibition 2015 in highlighting the leading position and strides of Bahrain and the Gulf Cooperation Council’s countries in the field of e-Government services which, he said, had been widely appreciated by specialised international agencies.

The progress of the implementation of the 655 projects included in the Government Action Plan (GAP) took centrestage during the session.

Statistics revealed that 28 per cent of the GAP projects have been completed, which indicates that the implementation process has been accelerated since some projects were finalised ahead of the schedule.

Only 31 out of the 655 projects (5pc) have not been completed yet, but their implementation process has exceeded 80pc, the government’s e-system monitoring and following up on the implementation progress showed, as outlined in the report submitted by the Cabinet Affairs Minister.

The statistics also showed that 216 out of the 325 prioritised projects are still under implementation, and that 32pc will be completed in 2915, while 43pc in 2016, 15pc in 2017 and 13pc in 2018.

Figures show that 299 GAP projects fall within the least important category in terms of implementation as they are continuous and cover administrative projects implemented within one ministry or government department.

The session was assured that there was no delayed project included in GAP. The Prime Minister issued directives to put forward indicators that measure the performance of each ministry and government department regarding the implementation of GAP projects.