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Syrian Airways announced the suspension of its flights to Khartoum Airport until further notice due to unrest in the country.
The Airways, which runs a Friday service to Khartoum International Airport, cancelled its flights and called on passengers to contact or visit their offices for any inquiries.
Source: Syrian Arab News Agency
The Israeli occupation forces arrested three Palestinians on Wednesday in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
Wafa news agency reported that the occupation forces stormed the villages of Umm Safa and Ras Karkar, north of the city, raided the homes of Palestinians, and arrested three of them.
Earlier on the day, the occupation forces arrested six Palestinians in the West Bank.
Source: Syrian Arab News Agency
An aid plane coming from Russia has arrived at Lattakia International Airport, loading tons of relief goods.
The plane was loaded by some 17.5 tons of relief items to help those affected by February earthquake, director of Lattakia airport said in a statement.
Source: Syrian Arab News Agency
The Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) conducted two joint inspection campaigns in the Muharraq Governorate on a number of shops and work sites.
The campaigns resulted in reporting violations related to the Labour Market and Residency laws. The cases were referred for legal action.
LMRA noted that the joint inspection campaign was conducted in the Muharraq Governorate in coordination with the Nationality, Passports and Residence Affairs (NPRA) and the Governorate’s respective Police Directorate.
The other inspection campaign was undertaken in the Muharraq Governorate in coordination with the General Directorate of Crime Detection and Forensic Evidence of the Ministry of Interior.
The LMRA renewed its call on all members of the society to support the efforts of government agencies in addressing illegal labour practices, by reporting violations via the electronic form on the authority’s website www.lmra.gov.bh or by calling the authority’s call centre on 17506055.
Source: Bahrain News Agency
Industry and Commerce Minister Abdullah bin Adel Fakhro chaired the sixteenth meeting of the SMEs Development Council, which was held virtually.
The minister praised the tangible cooperation between the members, and stressed that the coming stages require more solidarity to overcome challenges and successfully complete initiatives within the specified timetable to benefit the SMEs sector and contribute to its development and prosperity.
SMEs Development Directorate Director Shaikha Al-Fadhel briefed the meeting on the national performance indicators of the SMEs Development Council.
The meeting reviewed the values of performance indicators of the completed initiatives and their target percentages in the next stage.
It also reviewed developments of the SME database project, which aims to collect data on growth of enterprises, as the number of institutions that achieved growth from March 2022 to March 2023 reached 4,301 institutions and companies, with a majority of micro-enterprises.
Requirements for the second phase of the project were also outlined to ensure that the operational conditions of these institutions are followed up at a deeper level by linking the information available to members to form an integrated database to rely upon for the improvement of this sector’s performance.
The team consisting of representatives of concerned authorities evaluated all 43 initiatives and programs and identified challenges to ensure the desired workflow in a step aimed at achieving the best results and outputs for the years 2022-2026.
Source: Bahrain News Agency
The Information & eGovernment Authority (iGA) abolished its foreign trade report of first quarter 2023, encompassing data on the balance of trade, imports, exports (national origin), and re-exports.
The value of imports increased by 5%, reaching BD1.431 billion during first quarter 2023 compared to BD1.363 billion for the same quarter of the previous year. The top 10 countries accounted for 68% of the value of imports, while the remaining countries accounting for 32%.
According to the report, China ranked first when it came to imports to Bahrain, with a total of BD199 million, United Arab Emirate was the second with BD146 million, and Brazil was the third with BD117 million.
Non-agglomerated iron ores and concentrates emerged as the top product imported into Bahrain with a total value of BD136 million, while Aluminum oxide was second with BD100 million, and gold ingots third with BD62 million.
The value of exports of national origin decreased by 20% to BD1.004 billion during first quarter 2023, compared to BD1.254 billion for the same quarter of the previous year. The top 10 countries in terms of the value of exports of national origin accounted for 73% of the total value, while the remaining countries accounting for 27%.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ranked first among countries receiving Bahraini exports of national origin, importing BD266 million from Bahrain. Meanwhile, United Arab Emirate was second with BD98 million and The United States of America third with BD93 million.
Unwrought aluminum alloys emerged as the top products exported during quarter 2023 with BD306 million, Agglomerated iron ores and concentrates alloyed was second with a value of BD153 million and aluminum wire not alloyed third with BD55 million.
The total value of re-exports increased by 17% to reach BD186 million during quarter 2023, compared to BD159 million for the same quarter of the previous year. The top 10 countries accounted for 84% of the re-exported value, while the remaining countries accounted for the 16%. The United Arab Emirate ranked first with BD59 million, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia second with BD45 million, and Singapore third with BD14 million.
Parts for airplanes the top product re-exported from Bahrain with BD 29 million, four-wheel drive came in second place with BD11 million, and wristwatches nonprecious metal came third with BD7 million.
As for the trade balance, which represents the difference between exports and imports, the deficit in the trade balance amounted to 240 million dinars in the first quarter of 2023 compared to it in the same quarter of the previous year, recording a surplus of 50 million dinars, which led to an increase in the deficit by 574%.
Source: Bahrain News Agency
Industry and Commerce Minister Abdullah bin Adel Fakhro met BBMA Chairman Ahmed Bin Hindi
The minister praised the great contributions and distinguished partnership between the private sector and the government, in terms of implementing economic and commercial projects with added value to the national economy.
He hailed Bahrain Businessmen Association (BBMA)’s role in promoting economic development in the Kingdom and highlighted its advanced image as an incubator for major projects and investment companies.
Fakhro referred to the positive steps taken by the BBMA and its continuous cooperation with the Ministry, and its organization and participation in many influential economic events at local and international levels.
The minister hailed the Bahraini private sector and its contributions to the growth of national economy, affirming that the ministry is working by all means to provide more facilities to ensure the smooth establishment of local or global investments in the Kingdom.
Source: Bahrain News Agency
A telephone call was held between His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tariq of Oman.
The two leaders exchanged greetings and blessing on Eid Al-Fitr, wishing many happy returns of the occasion to Bahrain and Oman and their peoples, as well as the Arab and Islamic nations.
Source: Bahrain News Agency