Under the patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa Crown Prince, First Deputy Prime Minister, Chairman of Bahrain Economic Development Board

Prestigious ceremony concludes Bahrain's first annual Entrepreneurship Awards and acknowledges winners across seven categories

Manama, Wednesday, March 12, 2015:

The Bahrain Award for Entrepreneurship was held today in a glittering ceremony at the ART Rotana Hotel in Amwaj under the kind patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, First Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of Bahrain Economic Development Board.  Awards covering seven categories were presented to finalists in recognition of their entrepreneurial efforts and contribution to Bahrain's economy.

On behalf of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa, Deputy Prime Minister, attended the ceremony, during which awards were given across seven different categories in recognition of the role of Bahrain's entrepreneurs in developing the Kingdom's economy. His Highness conveyed His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's congratulations to the winners of each category, praising the award's contribution to advancing innovation and encouraging the growth of entrepreneurship in Bahrain, which are key elements to the ongoing development of the Kingdom's economy.

Speaking at the event, His Highness stated that entrepreneurship is one of the core drivers of pivotal change. Highlighting the role of creativity and innovation in developing the Kingdom's economy, he added that the growth of Bahrain's private sector is largely due to the advancement of entrepreneurship in the Kingdom.

His Highness went on to praise the Bahrain Award for Entrepreneurship (BAE) and its importance in recognising Bahrain's entrepreneurs. Noting that the Kingdom is committed to further encouraging the growth of the entrepreneurial sector on the basis of competitiveness, sustainability and justice, His Highness added that the BAE winners and candidates reflect this commitment.

Shaikh Mohammed bin Isa Al Khalifa, Chairman and Acting Chief Executive of Tamkeen, commented on the success of the ceremony: "The award is a testament to the success of the different initiatives supporting entrepreneurship throughout the Kingdom. It is also proof that we are moving steadily forward with the mission that Tamkeen and the award partners set out to achieve, namely the development of Bahrain's private sector and positioning it as the key driver of economic growth. The success of this award further cements Bahrain's position as a regional hub for entrepreneurship, and we are particularly proud of the advanced levels that have been achieved by the entrepreneurs across all stages of the award."  

The winners honoured across the seven award categories were:

  • Namaste for Micro-Enterprise of the Year Award;

  • Obai & Hill for Startup of the Year Award;

  • Creative Style for Enterprise of the Year Award (SMEs);

  • Abdulla Ahmed Nass & Sons Co. for Enterprise of the Year Award (Large Companies);

  • BMMI for Sustainable Business Award (SME & Large enterprise categories);

  • AlMoayyed Contracting Group for the People's Choice Award; and

  • Mr. Hussein Ali Yateem for the Lifetime Achievement Award.

The winners were selected from amongst 100 applications submitted after the announcement of the Bahrain Award for Entrepreneurship in December last year.

All applications were initially reviewed by the award's technical committee, followed by a round of evaluation which included interviews in early February to determine the semi-finalists.

The technical committee is officially represented by each of the award partners: Tamkeen, the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB), Bahrain Development Bank (BDB), and knowledge advisors Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI), the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation Investment & Technology Promotion Office (UNIDO-AICEI), and the Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MOIC). The committee was also joined by a regional representative from EY, acting as a knowledge advisor, before the candidate profiles were sent to a second round panel of high profile award judges for independent evaluation. The judges included His Royal Highness Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, Talal Al Zain, Ahmed Nassef, Badr Jafar, Habib Haddad, Nina Curley, Rama Chakaki, Rosemary Tan, Tony Bury and Hala Fadhel.

Each of the winners will be granted the opportunity to further develop their business in addition to a wide range of  prizes offered by the award's partners including development programmes, startup funding, business coaching, office space in business incubators and accelerators, growth plan development as well as training and certification. All nominees were also given the opportunity to meet regional and global business leaders at the ceremony.

-Ends-

The Bahrain Award for Entrepreneurship was launched in partnership with Tamkeen, EDB, BDB, and knowledge advisors BCCI, UNIDO, EY Bahrain and the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.

For further information please visit www.BahrainAE.com, follow Twitter, Instagram and Facebook account on @BahrainAE, contact the award's hotline on 17000710 between 7.30am and 11pm or email info@BahrainAE.com.

HOTLINE  17000710
Email info@BahrainAE.com

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© Press Release 2015