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Bahraini Prime Minister Orders Cabinet Reshuffle | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett


Manama – For the second time in two years, Bahraini government is reshuffling and restructuring its ministries in order to ensure more efficiency and productivity.

Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa issued directives to restructure the government to meet with the nature of its action in the next stage and to achieve the royal directives in this regard.

The PM ordered the reduction of the number of ministries and government departments by merging ministries, and minimizing the number of departments and institutions by affiliating them with the existing ministries to downsize the large government apparatus and ensure more efficiency and productivity.

Prince Khalifa also gave instructions to promote the available investment opportunities in the kingdom’s oil industries through attracting international mega companies and expertise.

The Prime Minister called on identifying the latest developments and challenges in the oil and gas sector and exchange opinion on them through taking advantage of international conferences, such as the 20th Middle East Oil and Gas Show and Conference (MEOS 2017).

MEOS 2017 is held under the patronage of the Prime Minister to develop common visions that could serve the sector and stimulate its growth.

The Premier stressed the need to respect the principles of the Islamic religion and Bahrain’s deep-rooted values and traditions while tackling issues and events in the media, requesting the Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments Ministry, and the Information Affairs Ministry to coordinate in this regard.

The current government was formed in late 2014 and included 18 ministers in addition to four deputies to the prime minister. This reshuffle saw the removal of Ministers of State, the removal of the Ministry of Culture, also 11 previous ministers were removed from their posts and 4 new ministers were added. Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa was assigned the first deputy prime minister.

In May 2015, King Hamad issued a directive to form a mini Cabinet to help bring Bahrain out of the financial crisis. The move aimed to help deal with the situation that had evolved following the slump in oil prices.

In October 2015, the government was reshuffled once again to include 16 ministries.