The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to launch a ‘health passport’, which will ensure that citizens and residents traveling between Bahrain and Saudi Arabia meet criteria set by both Kingdoms to combat the global COVID-19 virus.
According to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), the MoU was signed by the Information and eGovernment Authority (iGA) Chief Executive, Mohammed Ali Al Qaed and Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) president, Dr Abdullah bin Sharaf Alghamdi at a ceremony at SDAIA’s premises in Riyadh, in the presence of Shaikh Hmood bin Abdulla bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Bahrain to Saudi Arabia and other officials from both countries.
The agreement is meant to facilitate the movement of passengers, whether they are citizens or residents, between the two countries through the King Fahd Causeway.
It takes advantage of the technical compatibility of the BeAware Bahrain and Saudi’s ‘Tawakkalna‘ applications by connecting the health passport information hosted on the two apps with the two Kingdoms’ main passport systems, allowing travelers’ eligibility to be determined using COVID-19 health rules.
By connecting the systems, a comprehensive and accurate database of travelers will be created, simplifying operations, and saving the public time and effort. It will allow personnel at the King Fahd Causeway to review travelers’ personal and health data quickly, as well as improve security and privacy.
The goal of this cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain is to ensure that preventive and monitoring protocols are followed.