Leading businessmen of Bahrain and Qatar signed Saturday in Manama a cooperation agreement aimed at “launching a new era of trade and economic ties between the two Gulf states, reported the Gulf Daily.
The two sides will set up joint ventures in all fields, said the paper, adding that further meeting between the two countries’ businessmen will continue in the near future.
Relations between the two countries are expected to take a further step forward when the joint supreme committee, co-chaired by the two countries’ Crown Princes, meets in Doha on Monday.
A Qatari delegation, including businessmen and members of the Qatari chamber of commerce and trade, arrived in Manama for “strengthening bilateral trade ties between the two brotherly sisters.”
Bahrain’s Prime Minister Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa praised the steps taken to enhance economic, trade, financial and investment relations between Bahrain and Qatar, said the paper.
“The ending of the territorial dispute between the two countries had opened a new era of bilateral co-operation,” said the Prime Minister.
Bahrain and Qatar turned a new page in their relations after settling a decades-old territorial dispute through a ruling on March 16 by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that was welcomed by both states.
The ICJ endorsed Bahrain's sovereignty over the Hawar islands and Qitat Jarada island, but the Zubara strip stayed in the hands of the Qatari peninsula, which was also awarded the Fasht al-Dibel rocks and Jinan island.
The court ruled that Qatari shipping had rights of unlimited passage in waters separating the Hawar from other Bahraini islands - Albawaba.com
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