Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday expressed satisfaction over the positive trajectory of bilateral relations and underscored Pakistan's commitment to further strengthening cooperation with Bahrain in diverse fields, including trade, investment, energy and human resource development. Bahrain Foreign Minister Dr Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani called on the prime minister here during his visit to Pakistan to co-chair the 3rd session of the Pakistan-Bahrain Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC) along with the Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, an official news release said.
The prime minister reaffirmed Pakistan's deep appreciation for the longstanding and brotherly relations between Pakistan and Bahrain, founded on shared values, mutual trust and close people-to-people ties. Foreign Minister Al Zayani reaffirmed Bahrain's commitment to further enhancing bilateral cooperation across mutually beneficial areas.
The two sides exchanged views on regional and international developments and emphasised the importance of continued consultations and coordination on issues of mutual interest. Meanwhile, chairing a progress review meeting on implementation of Digital Nation Pakistan initiative, the prime minister directed all federal ministries to complete, within the stipulated time-frame, necessary measures for digitising relevant data in coordination with provincial governments and institutions concerned and ensuring its provision to the central data centre.
He said that the national-level central data centre under the Digital Nation Pakistan Programme would play a key role in the delivery of government services and provision of facilities to citizens. He said clearly defined responsibilities of federal ministries, along with the provision of relevant data to the central data centre, would help bring the government system in line with modern requirements.
Shehbaz said the Digital Nation Pakistan Programme was essentially aimed at ensuring efficient and convenient services for citizens at the national level. He observed that making useful data from all sectors and government institutions available at one place could contribute significantly to the country's economic development.
Referring to the fuel subsidy scheme for deserving segments of society, the prime minister said data sharing among institutions had played a key role in its successful implementation. He said digitisation of the performance of ministries and relevant data was important for preventing corruption and institutional mismanagement.