His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, deputised Shaikh Khalid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, Deputy Prime Minister, to attend the inauguration of the First Arab Consumer Protection Forum, held in Bahrain on February 20-21.
The forum is hosted by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce in cooperation with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
Ministers, officials and specialists in the field of consumer protection at the local, GCC, Arab and West Asian levels, participated in the forum.
The deputy prime minister affirmed that Bahrain, under the leadership of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, and the follow-up of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, has strengthened its commercial and economic system with strong national legislation, creating a more protective environment for consumers.
He pointed out that consumer protection is a global issue and that the legislative and executive branches are responsible for creating the legal framework and following up on its implementation, while the civil society institutions are responsible for raising the awareness of public consumers, including individuals and those in charge of the commerce sector, especially in dealing with e-commerce and online markets.
The deputy prime minister praised the initiative of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce to launch this forum in cooperation with the relevant international committees, coinciding with the celebration of the Arab and World Consumer Protection days, with the aim of boosting efforts to improve the governance of the consumer protection system in the Arab region in accordance with the best international practices that are in line with sustainable development goals.
He added that the forum provides an interactive platform for high-level participants to exchange expertise and keep up with developments, wishing them success in coming up with practical recommendations that would contribute to developing policies, meeting consumers’ needs and providing a sustainable business environment.
Abdullah bin Adel Fakhro, Minister of Industry and Commerce, expressed his appreciation to His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, for his patronage of the forum, expressing thanks to the Deputy Prime Minister for attending it on HRH’s behalf.
The minister said that Bahrain’s hosting of this forum demonstrates its distinguished economic status thanks to its success in adopting promising initiatives and translating royal visions into reality, the most recent of which were the directives of HM the King to implement all that serves the present and the future of the nation, as well as those of HRH the Crown Prince and Prime Minister to formulate Bahrain Economic Vision 2050 and launch it before the end of the year.
Minister Fakhro called on the participants in the forum to work on strengthening consumer protection in the Arab region and improving consumer protection policies and their enforcement.
He thanked the representatives of the ESCWA, UNCTAD, and Arab and West Asian countries’ organisations for their active participation, wishing the forum success in achieving its desired goals.
Then, the deputy prime minister honoured the forum’s sponsors.
BNA(R)
