A solid economy is the key to high living standards for citizens, Prime Minister Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa said yesterday while meeting senior officials in the kingdom.

Based on that, Bahrain has a special interest in boosting the economy by supporting and making efforts contributing to this goal, he said.

The Prime Minister said the kingdom worked strenuously on employing economic development for upgrading services and facilities.

Any shortcoming of services or facilities in any village or town is on its way to being resolved according to government plans and programmes set for this purpose, he said.

The Premier said it was normal for a democratic community like Bahrain to have great interest in politics.

However, he said that ought not to be at the expense of priorities in economic and social development. It also did not mean that all issues should be viewed from only a political point of view and dealt with on that basis, he said.

The meeting held at the Gudaibiya Palace was attended by Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs chairman Shaikh Abdullah bin Khalid Al Khalifa and parliament chairman Khalifa Al Dhahrani.

During the meeting, the Prime Minister noted the importance of giving priority to facilities supporting therapeutic tourism in Bahrain.

The Prime Minister hoped that medical and educational projects in Bahrain, including the King Hamad Hospital and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland - Medical University of Bahrain, would be a source of strong support for the government's efforts for making Bahrain a regional health tourism centre.

He hoped that they would also boost efforts to upgrade expertise and medical cadres so that they would provide optimum medical and therapeutic services.

The Prime Minister commended the relations linking Bahrain with other countries that have helped broaden Bahrain's co-operation with others.

These relations also helped the government to diversify resources and options for importing construction materials and food stuff and opening doors to new markets for Bahrain. - TradeArabia News service