Press Release.
Shaikh Mohammed bin Essa Al Khalifa, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Labor Fund Tamkeen, stressed that building on the Kingdom’s economic gains to date necessitates continued solidarity efforts by all concerned parties to keep pace with current market realities in addition to investing in new opportunities, promising sectors, and technology to achieve the highest levels of productivity, growth, and global competitiveness for Bahraini private sector institutions and workers.
The meeting was held in the presence of the Chamber’s President, Mr. Sameer Abdulla Nass, and members of the Chamber, during which Shaikh Mohammed bin Essa Al Khalifa introduced the most significant and notable advancements in the framework of Tamkeen’s extended support to the private sector in the upcoming phase, along with the most prominent updates with regard to Tamkeen’s programs confirming its success in assisting the private sector and attaining the intended economic effect.
Shaikh Mohammed bin Essa Al Khalifa further emphasized the importance of building on the results achieved by the Kingdom of Bahrain since the launch of the comprehensive reform initiatives by His Majesty the King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, The King of Bahrain, may Allah protect him, in order to promote the country’s holistic development process, in light of the advancements witnessed in regional and global markets, which present promising opportunities for growth and success.
In continuation, Shaikh Mohammed stated that Tamkeen’s complementary cooperation with the Chamber’s aims to improve the role of Bahraini institutions, increase their contribution to the national economy, create more high-quality job opportunities for Bahrainis, and use Tamkeen’s support to boost institutions’ productivity and encourage them to expand their businesses locally and globally.
During the meeting, Shaikh Mohammed praised the Chamber’s prominent role as a key partner in the private sector’s success and growth, as well as its members’ participation to establishing the Kingdom’s unique economic structure contributing to the domestic product based on non-oil resources, he also emphasized Tamkeen’s ongoing efforts to initiate interaction with changing market needs, exploiting prospective growth opportunities to the greatest extent possible for the benefit of our country and its people.
On his side, Mr. Sameer Abdulla Nass, President of the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry, commended the meeting that brought the Chamber and Tamkeen together as strategic labor market partners, reiterating the importance of continuing cooperation and joint work in line with the aspirations of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, The King of Bahrain, may Allah protect him, to enhance the role of the private sector in catalyzing on the national economy.
Mr. Nass added: “It is essential to ensure that the updates of Tamkeen’s programs sustain businesses, attain success and excellence, and boost the Kingdom’s business-incubating ecosystem, which will allow it to play a bigger role in the national economy.”
Tamkeen’s continued efforts to support Bahrainis as a preferred choice in the labor market, as well as encouraging them to pursue entrepreneurship as an alternative path to employment, was lauded by the Chamber’s President, who further commented that these efforts serve in strengthening the private sector’s role as the Kingdom’s dynamo of the economy through training, financial, professional and consultation support offered to entrepreneurs for the purpose of starting new businesses or expanding current ones.
“The Bahrain Chamber hopes that the proposed improvements to Tamkeen initiatives would help overcome difficulties encountered by small and medium enterprises, particularly during the COVID-19 recovery period, and enable these enterprises to make their way toward growth and excellence through paying attention to their needs, and also increase the efficiency and capacity of this sector, enhancing its competitive capabilities in the local labor market, which will be reflected in the private sector’s interest and the national economy in general.” Mr. Nass expressed.
This meeting comes as part of a series of consultative and introductory sessions Tamkeen initiated last May prior to the commencement of designing the new programs in order to receive the private sector’s perspectives on the currently offered programs and market demands in the phase to come.
Furthermore, these meetings take place in the context of Tamkeen’s readiness to relaunch the updated version of its programs aimed at supporting the development of individuals and institutions while achieving positive change and long-term impact on the private sector’s growth, as Tamkeen will continue to provide support by ensuring optimal investment in supporting high-productivity and high-growth activities, growing the national economy and promoting Bahraini employment rates.
In this regard, Mr. Husain Mohammed Rajab, Chief Executive of Tamkeen confirmed that Tamkeen is currently holding a series of meetings with representatives from the private sector from institutions, individuals, and associations, in order to work in an integrated manner toward maximizing the outcomes of the support opportunities it provides. He also added that this will contribute to transforming the available support opportunities into strengths bringing about significant improvements to institutional performance, workforce skillset, and their role in creating disruption that improves their competitiveness.
Tamkeen aims to expand on its previous accomplishments by focusing in the next phase on the growth and success of Bahraini employees and businesses by promoting job opportunities and rising projects that achieve productivity, effectiveness, competitiveness, and high added value.
Mr. Rajab further emphasized the importance of responding to current market transformations and the need for innovative ideas, whether in the manner institutions work or in the ideas of investment projects presented in the market, to achieve the desired impact and effectiveness, encourage economic diversification, and improve employment and training opportunities for Bahrainis to gain experience while advancing their careers.