This small Himalayan Kingdom leads the world in the index of Gross National Happiness. And, while we are about it, we must also introduce a fresh dimension in our assessment of progress: the protection of our environmental capital must be included in the equation for measuring development, and not zero-valued as in the past.
We continue to take a proactive approach in developing new regulations or updating/revising existing ones, as appropriate, in line with our long-standing policy of implementing international standards. A key recent highlight has been the implementation, from the start of this year, of the Basel II regulatory framework, which will significantly enhance the risk management practices of Bahrain’s banks.