His Excellency Dr. Sheikh Abdulla bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Undersecretary for International Affairs, and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Bahrain Center for Strategic, International and Energy Studies “Derasat”, confirmed that the Kingdom of Bahrain, under the leadership of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa, pays great attention to scientific research, as it is the foundation of development and the future, which goes in line with the Bahrain Economic Vision 2030 aiming to promote optimal investment in the human element, and to provide an appropriate and stimulating environment for growth and innovation, based on the principles of sustainability, competitiveness and equity.

 

This came during his speech at the opening of the consultation workshop with academics and those interested in sustainable development in the Kingdom of Bahrain, organized by the Bahrain Center for Strategic, International and Energy Studies “Derasat”, in cooperation with the National Information Committee, which was held today at the University of Bahrain.

 

Dr. Sheikh Abdulla bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa explained that the workshop comes as part of a series of national consultations in which the Government of the Kingdom of Bahrain seeks to involve all active community actors, in the context of efforts to prepare the first voluntary national report to implement the goals of sustainable development, which will be presented and discussed during the Ministerial meeting of the United Nations Economic and Social Council’s High-level Political Forum held next July in New York, expressing his pride in the participation of representatives of academic and university bodies and those interested in the sustainable development of the Kingdom, in addition to the attendance of members of the legislative branch, which stems out of a genuine and dynamic partnership to support the development process, and enhance the leadership of the Kingdom of Bahrain.

 

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Undersecretary for International Affairs, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, pointed out that this meeting is the third in a series of consultation workshops, coming after previous similar meetings with concerned civil society organizations and the private sector, where various points of views and valuable and constructive recommendations were presented.

 

Dr. Sheikh Abdulla bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa stressed that the first voluntary report represents an opportunity to highlight the achievements of the Kingdom of Bahrain in the field of sustainable development, in conjunction with the tenth anniversary of launching the Economic Vision 2030 in 2008, especially since the concerted community efforts constitutes a major step to create advancements in managing the sustainable development process that targets the citizen as the goal of every move.

 

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Undersecretary for International Affairs and Chairman of the Board of Trustees pointed out that the Kingdom of Bahrain has already begun to work towards achieving the goals of the sustainable development goals 2030 adopted by the United Nations Summit on 25 September 2015 in New York before its issuance. It also completed the Millennium Development Goals successfully before 2015, The Kingdom is classified in the category of (highly developed countries in human development) after it has come a long way in achieving the desired development goals.

Dr. Sheikh Abdullah bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa discussed the fruitful cooperation with the United Nations, as the Kingdom is considered one of the most committed countries to the noble goals for which the international organization was founded, and has been able to represent an internationally leading reform, development and humanitarian model.

 

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Undersecretary for International Affairs and Chairman of the Board of Trustees expressed his happiness with the cooperation of the “Derasat” Center with the National Information Committee headed by His Excellency Mr. Mohammed bin Ibrahim Al-Mutawa, Minister of Cabinet Affairs, to organize and manage this workshop for several reasons which are: the workshop is considered an advanced platform for ideas, and the outcomes of the meeting are expected to be a rich and distinguished, since the communication is with elites of intellectuals and academics which constitutes a fertile ground for producing new visions serving as a good preparation for the report, as well as the realization of the concept of community partnership adopted by the center in light of its new mission stemming from role and responsibility.