Beirut, 20 August 2026--The United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, concluded an official visit to Bahrain, where she met Crown Prince and Prime Minister Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, as well as ministers and senior officials. Discussions focused on avenues for cooperation, the Kingdom's reform agenda, the expertise it has accumulated, and its ambitious development vision, which could elevate this cooperation into a more strategic and sustainable partnership.
Al-Mashat underscored the particular importance of strengthening cooperation at a time when the region is facing successive crises and conflicts. She conveyed to Foreign Affairs Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani the readiness of ESCWA to support the Kingdom in economic, social and environmental issues, while commending the Ministry's role in providing the political framework for cooperation with ESCWA and facilitating coordination with relevant national entities.
Economy and Finance
Al-Mashat met with Minister of Finance and National Economy Salman bin Khalifa Al Khalifa and reiterated the readiness of ESCWA to continue supporting the Kingdom through technical analysis, risk assessments, cross-border impact evaluations, scenario-building, and the identification of policy options to strengthen the resilience and adaptability of the national economy to shocks. She also emphasized the importance of leveraging Bahrain's expertise and position as a financial and logistical hub to contribute to more coordinated Arab responses to regional challenges.
Strengthening the labour market
Al-Mashat began her visit by meeting Minister of Legal Affairs and Minister of Labour Youssef bin Abdulhussein Khalaf. She expressed pride in the distinguished relations between the two sides, commending Bahrain's efforts to develop labour market policies and strengthen human capital efficiency in support of economic and social development. In the coming period, cooperation is expected to expand to include skills forecasting and labour market analysis; use of big data and artificial intelligence (AI) to assess employment and skill trends; and support for vocational rehabilitation policies, alongside strengthened regional knowledge exchange in this field.
Climate change adaptation
In her meeting with Minister of Oil and Environment Mohamed Bin Daina, Al-Mashat commended the progress made by the Kingdom in environment protection, climate change adaptation, and the sustainable management of natural resources. She also highlighted ongoing cooperation on climate change impact assessment and the development of scientific tools to inform national adaptation policymaking, expressing hope that these efforts would continue to enhance national capacities and promote the exchange of regional expertise.
Industry and Trade
Building on the commitment of ESCWA to supporting the Kingdom in developing trade and economic policies and stregthening the competitiveness of its national economy, Al-Mashat discussed with Minister of Industry and Commerce Abdulla bin Adel Fakhro ways to deepen cooperation between the two sides. Areas of cooperation include developing a national version of the ESCWA trade policy simulator, strengthening national capacities in economic and trade modeling, and promoting the exchange of regional expertise in trade and economic policy.
Statistical support
Al-Mashat also held a meeting with Chief Executive Officer of the Information and eGovernment Authority Mohammed Ali AlQaed to review a number of joint initiatives, such as the national platform for SDG indicators and the localization of the ESCWA monitoring application for reporting on the SDGs (MARS), and cooperation on the development of national statistical tools. The two officials also discussed ways to strengthen national data governance and expand the use of digital technologies and AI in the production and analysis of official statistics.
The ES had previously met with IOM Head of Mission in Manama and Resident Coordinator ad interim Aishath Ihma Shareef and explored areas of cooperation to provide support to the Kingdom.
