Cairo: Fawzia Zainal, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the Arab Republic of Egypt and Permanent Representative to the League of Arab States, headed the Kingdom of Bahrain's delegation to the 118th Ordinary Session of the Economic and Social Council of the League of Arab States at the ministerial level in Cairo. The meeting discussed a number of items on the agenda, including follow-up on the implementation of the decisions of the Council's 117th session and the activities of the General Secretariat between the two sessions, in addition to preparing the economic and social file for the upcoming 35th Ordinary Session of the Council of the League of Arab States at the summit level, scheduled to be held in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
According to Bahrain News Agency, the meeting also discussed a number of economic and development issues, foremost among them the latest developments in completing the Greater Arab Free Trade Area, developments related to the Arab Customs Union, investment developments in Arab countries, economic and development diversification and public finance development, in addition to enhancing Arab-international cooperation and Arab efforts to support sustainable development. The meeting also addressed Arab initiatives in sustainable finance and green financing policies, digital transformation, and other areas, within the framework of strengthening joint Arab economic and development action.
A number of other topics were also discussed, including support for the Palestinian economy, the unified Arab statement for the 2026 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, as well as periodic reports of specialised Arab organizations.
On the social affairs agenda, the meeting addressed initiatives to develop the Arab Guiding Framework for Skills and the economic empowerment of beneficiaries of social protection programmes. The Council also reviewed reports and decisions issued by ministerial councils and specialised committees, including the Arab Health Ministers Council and the Arab Women Committee.
The Kingdom of Bahrain's delegation included Abdulrahman Hassan Hashem, Minister Plenipotentiary at the Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the League of Arab States, and Abdullah Abdulhamid Al Aradi, Director of the Arab and Islamic Countries Relations Department at the Ministry of Finance and National Economy.