ISDS Case Map
Bahrain
The decision to lift boycott of Israel in line with the US FTA does not entail any economic, cultural, political, diplomatic or any other form of normalisation, Bahrain's Foreign Minister said.
A senior US trade official has dismissed concerns by the Senate Labor Advisory Committee, saying that "the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions General Secretary has publicly hailed Bahrain as showing the way for the region" and "the disciplines and consultative mechanism in the FTA will play a major role in further improving the labour situation in Bahrain."
Hundreds of people turned up at two separate sites to demonstrate against Bahrain's lifting of a boycott of Israeli goods yesterday
Nineteen societies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have rapped moves to normalise relations with Israel and called for joint national and regional efforts to abort the US-initiated Broader Middle East project.
US Democrats pressed Bahrain on Thursday to change its labor laws before an expected vote in Congress this year on a bilateral free trade pact with the tiny kingdom known as the Gulf's banking hub.
"We have been repeatedly told by officials that the free trade agreement [FTA] signed with the US did not include an article on allowing Israeli goods into Bahrain, but we see that the situation has changed now," Al Mouawda said.
Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed ibn Mubarak Al-Khalifa confirmed Friday that Bahrain officially has ended its boycott of Israeli goods in favor of the United States' Free Trade Agreement.
The Bahraini parliament approved a free trade agreement with the United States. Some lawmakers wanted to use the agreement to press Washington to release six Bahrainis detained by the US at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. But most MPs decided that they have a better chance to resolve the issue by ratifying the accord.
Pakistan and Bahrain on Monday agreed to initiate talks on Free Trade Agreement (FTA), boost co-operation in trade, economic and defence fields as Bahrain Prime Minister Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa began a three-day visit to the country.
Bahrain businesses must act now or lose out on massive new opportunities worldwide, says an expert. AMIRA AL HUSSAINI reports
