2/9/2011 10:19:00 AM
ANKARA, Feb 9 (KUINA) -- The wide protests that are taking place in Egypt, and those in Tunisia before, are separate unrelated incidents, and the wave of protest is not likely to spread further across the Arab world, stressed the Bahraini Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa.
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| Bahraini Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa. |
The global financial crisis of 2009, he remarked, put extra financial burden on people and they felt compelled to demand reforms which include transparency, fair competition, and social justice.
To a question on how related the two protests are, he said, "each country has its unique situation, and therefore different solutions.
"I do not feel the incidents in Tunisia and now in Egypt would have a domino effect, but still, we must not overlook the reality that peoples always aspire to live with security and equality." On another note, the top official said relations with Turkey have great potential for greater cooperation in fields including services, food safety and security, and construction and development. He said many Turkish banks operate in Bahrain and urged Bahraini banks to seek debut into the Turkish market as well.
The Turkish prime minister for his part said relations are growing steadily in the political, military, economic, trade, and cultural fields. An agreement was reached with the Bahraini crown prince to further bolster political dialogue as well, he added.
The official recalled that trade exchange volume exceeded an annual average of USD 240 million, registering USD 150 million in 2009. "There is serious effort on both sides to take this volume even higher, in parallel to strong and developing political relations." Erdogan said he and the Bahraini crown prince signed a Memo of Understanding for cooperation between the two countries' investment authorities.
On the regional situation, he said the issue had come up in the talks and that both he and his guest lamented the loss of life and agreed on the need for reform and democratic changes in the region to guarantee stability, security, and prosperity for the people in the region.
The stalled peace process, the situation in Lebanon, Iraq, and Sudan, and the Iranian nuclear dossier also came up in the discussions, he said.
The Bahraini Crown Prince arrived here Tuesday evening for a three-day visit, heading a delegation which includes the ministers of foreign affairs, commerce, industry, and labor and other officials.
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Bahrain has boosted its oil production
09 February 2011 09:06 GMT
Bahrain has boosted its oil production to 40,000 barrels per day from 32,000 bpd after the country started to overhaul its main oilfield, Bahrain's top oil official was quoted as saying today.
The head of the National Oil and Gas Authority, Abdul-Hussain bin Ali Mirza, told the Gulf Daily News that this was the first increase since the late 1970s.
Bahrain started to overhaul its main oilfield last year after US-based Occidental Petroleum and the United Arab Emirates' Mubadala Development Company agreed to invest $15 billion to develop the Bahrain field.
"We are making progress already as is indicated by an 8000 bpd increase and will make more progress as we go along," Mirza was quoted as saying in the newspaper.
He said Bahrain was targeting output capacity of 100,000 bpd by 2017.
Oil is the main source of income for Bahrain's government, and higher output will help the island
kingdom tackle mounting fiscal pressures due to a rising subsidies bill.
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'Bahrain' Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahrain
'Bahrain' Swedish Wikipedia:
http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahrain
