Press release: UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister on 10th Joint Working Group

The tenth meeting of the biannual UK-Bahrain Joint Working Group took place in London on 19 July 2018, chaired by the Rt Hon. Alistair Burt MP, Minister of State for the Middle East at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and HE Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmed Bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bahrain.

Mr Burt and Shaikh Khalid, together with officials from Bahrain and the UK, discussed a wide range of areas of bilateral co-operation, including regional issues, defence, security, human rights, education, the environment, and trade and investment opportunities.

The UK remains fully supportive of Bahrain’s plans to deliver sustainable change in the Kingdom. The Ministers agreed that the UK would continue to share appropriate technical assistance, expertise and experience. Mr Burt also congratulated Bahrain on being the first country in the region to achieve Tier 1 status in the US 2018 Trafficking in Persons report.

Both governments will continue to work in partnership to achieve progress on the areas discussed ahead of the next meeting, which is scheduled to take place in Bahrain later this year.

Speaking at the end of the Joint Working Group, Alistair Burt said:

It was a pleasure to welcome Shaikh Khalid to London today, for a productive meeting of our Joint Working Group. The UK and Bahrain have always had a close and important relationship which continues to grow in strength across a wide range of areas of mutual interest.

The UK will continue to support Bahrain on the delivery of ongoing reform initiatives, and we will work together to underpin peace and security in the Gulf region.

More information

The UK-Bahrain Joint Working Group was established in March 2013. It is a forum for discussing issues of mutual interest across the bilateral relationship, including regional and trade issues, with a focus on reform and human rights.