Press Release.
His Excellency Shaikh Mohammed bin Essa Al Khalifa: The improvements came as part of the recently announced strategy, to add more flexibility to the support programs and improve the quality of services.
Based on the directives of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, the Labour Fund “Tamkeen” announces gradually resuming its programs by reopening its application window for the Business Development program within its new edition. This comes as part of Tamkeen’s ongoing efforts to support enterprises in the private sector and to develop the human capital.
Applications for the Business Development program are scheduled to reopen on Sunday, 21st of February, and will focus on the growth and sustainability of the enterprises.
His Excellency, Shaikh Mohammed bin Essa Al Khalifa, the Chairman of Tamkeen, outlined the improvements of the relaunched support programs: “The improvements came as part of the recently announced strategy during Tamkeen’s Consultation Forum. According to the feedback received from the Forum, it emphasized the need to add more flexibility to the support programs while also increasing the quality and performance of the services, and to encourage enterprises to adopt more digital and innovative solutions to achieve further expansion and sustainability.”
He also added that the most prominent changes within the program will focus on supporting enterprises that are dynamic and in line with the current changes, and have objective-based development goals, to further encourage enterprises to adopt innovative solutions and improve their services. In addition, the changes include supporting virtual CRs, and supporting the wages of Bahraini employees.
According to Shaikh Mohammed, Tamkeen ensured that its strategic plan takes into consideration the results of the previous stage to explore the current needs of the private sector, and gradually work towards addressing the challenges of Tamkeen’s budget due to the impact caused by the Corona pandemic, as the budget was directly linked to the private sector fees that were halted during the pandemic.
Dr. Ebrahim Mohammed Janahi, the Chief Executive of Tamkeen, emphasized that the new updates will focus on the effectiveness and sustainability across all sectors, including micro-enterprises and small and medium enterprises. “It will also include virtual CRs where the owners can benefit from the allocated financial grants to support their wages. Enterprises will also be able to apply for services from virtual CRs which are now considered part of the Business Development program, given that they’re considered service providers.”
Dr. Janahi added that the human capital support within the Business Development program is an integral step that supports the development of Bahraini individuals, especially since it encourages enterprises to employ them which in the long run contributes towards the success and development of their business.
The support includes different fields including: Machinery and Equipment, Marketing and Branding, ICT, Business Consulting, Quality Management, Accounting and Audit, Exhibition Participation and Cloud Computing provided that the support expenditures covers up to 50% of the value. When it comes to the Human Capital support, the support covers the wages of Bahraini employees for a period of 18 months, at a rate of up to 50% of the salary. The wage support, and support for equipment leasing will be added in the coming period.
All other majors programs to support individuals and enterprises will be gradually resumed in the coming period, while Tamkeen will continue to introduce more support areas that meet the needs of enterprises in the current stage, to help increase their contribution to the national economy and promote the creation of job opportunities for Bahrainis.
Tamkeen had temporarily suspended its main programs and redirected its efforts and resources towards a unified program, the Business Continuity Support program, to focus on supporting enterprises affected by the economic repercussions caused by the Coronavirus (COVID-19).