More than 500 attend Tamkeen’s Consultation Forum

The Chairman of the Labour Fund Tamkeen, Shaikh Mohammed Bin Essa Al Khalifa, emphasised the importance of the annual Consultation Forum as it falls in line with Tamkeen’s efforts to enhance its support programmes.

The forum invited all partners from the various sectors in Bahrain, including startups, SMEs, individuals, and other stakeholders that play an important role in Bahrain’s economy to share their feedbacks. The event gathered more than 500 attendees representing different sectors in Bahrain’s economy.

During his opening Shaikh Mohammed highlighted Tamkeen’s achievements stating: “After two years of launching our 2018-2020 strategy, having it focused on diversity, acceleration, and sustainability, we’re proud of the results we have attained as we reached more than 183,000 individuals and 51 SMEs up to this day, and have spent more than 1 billion BD in the various support programmes and initiatives offered by Tamkeen.”

He also mentioned that 2019 has been a prosperous year, as Tamkeen’s programs witnessed a tremendous transformation based on the feedback received from its customers, in addition to the thorough market research and studies made.

“These changes are in line with Bahrain’s vision of supporting digital transformation as it positions the Kingdom as a leading regional hub for Information and Communication Technology, especially since Bahrain is considered one of the first countries to introduce the 5G service, in addition to launching the Amazon Web Services data centers, the first of its kind in the MENA region, amongst many other initiatives.”

The speech was followed by a presentation with highlighted Tamkeen’s achievements in 2019 and outlined the organisation’s proposed plan for 2020 including the approach, projects, and focus areas moving forward. A panel discussion on Market Experts was held with Talal Al Aain, Basem Al Saei, and moderated with Dr Jarmo Kotailine, Chief Planning and Monitoring Officer at Tamkeen.

The panelists discussed the ambitions of labour market reform, the role and way forward for market players to achieve those ambitions. During the press conference, the Chief Executive of Tamkeen Dr Ebrahim Janahi, mentioned that during the past year, Tamkeen has been focused on boosting productivity and efficiency in the of the support programs offered.

“Part of our revamping included accelerating the process of applications, allowing SMEs to apply to Tamkeen’s programs in a faster and more smooth manner,” he stated. “Tamkeen is also focused on creating job opportunities for Bahrainis, as Tamkeen partnered with different organisations to offer more training programs in Cloud Computing, in addition to collaborating with accelerators,” he added.

Dr Janahi also outlined Tamkeen’s achievements and efforts in Bahrain’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, where Bahrain hosted regional competitions, hosted the Global Entrepreneurship Congress, and took part in global awards.