Tamkeen says supported 14,800 Bahrainis and 4,000 enterprises since start of year

TDT | Manama                                      

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The Labor Fund (Tamkeen) announced that it has supported over 14,800 Bahrainis and 4,000 enterprises since the beginning of 2023.

This includes creating over 7,700 job opportunities, providing more than 7,100 training opportunities, and supporting over 4,000 businesses through various programs.

Tamkeen showcased its remarkable achievements since the beginning of the year during its third quarterly Board of Directors meeting for 2023. During the meeting, Tamkeen’s Chairman, Shaikh Mohammed bin Isa Al Khalifa reiterated Tamkeen’s ongoing commitment to realizing the vision of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa in making Bahrainis the first choice of employment in the labor market, in addition to the efforts of all the government stakeholders under the leadership of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, collectively working as Team Bahrain to foster an environment that supports training and development for Bahrainis, thus enabling them to enter the labor market, access quality job opportunities and pursue entrepreneurship.

Shaikh Mohammed added that work is currently underway in coordination with the relevant government entities to introduce enhanced programs to support Bahrainis in the labor market.

He highlighted that the direction of the enhanced programs discussed during the meeting further emphasize Tamkeen’s pivotal role in affirming the positioning of the national workforce as the first choice of employment in the labor market and additionally enhancing their competitiveness locally and internationally.

During the meeting, the Board reviewed updates about the programs and initiatives planned for the upcoming period which aim to support employment and career development for Bahrainis.

Maha Abdulhameed Mofeez, Chief Executive of Tamkeen, highlighted that the organization is on track to achieve its key performance indicators for 2023. As part of ongoing training partnerships aimed at human capital development, Tamkeen also facilitated over 1,500 training opportunities in various fields including information technology, software engineering, data science, iOS applications development, 3D animation, game development and more.

It is worth mentioning that these training programs achieved high success rates for graduates with 65% being either employed, promoted, or have started their own businesses as a result of completion When it comes to supporting enterprises and entrepreneurship, Tamkeen hosted six editions of StartUp Bahrain Pitch, an initiative aimed at connecting startups with potential investors and providing them with funding options and exposure through pitching events.

During these pitching events, entrepreneurs present their concepts to a panel of judges featuring local and international investors and experts who select the winner of each event. Tamkeen launched the second edition of the Young Entrepreneur (Mashroo3i 2.0) program which is aligned with efforts to encourage Bahraini youth to pursue entrepreneurship as a career path.

The program enables participants to turn their concepts into viable businesses and launch them through training and an advisory bootcamp.