Manama, Bahrain, 25 September 2013:

Tamkeen signed an agreement with Zain Bahrain to benefit from the Career Progression Programme, which Tamkeen offers to enhance the capabilities of Bahrainis and make them the employees of choice in the private sector.

Under the agreement, 19 Bahraini employees of Zain Bahrain will be trained in various aspects of management and leadership, which will include the implementation of a sustained Development Plan for training Zain Bahrain's Key Account Managers (KAMs) and thereby improve their selling and communication skills along with enhancing their team and talent spirit.

Through its Career Progression Programme, Tamkeen offers beneficiary enterprises a series of specialised and high-level training courses for their Bahraini employees to help them improve their performance and advance in their careers. The training programmes are designed based on detailed studies conducted by a dedicated Tamkeen team in cooperation with the beneficiary enterprises to identify skill gaps among their Bahraini employees.

In addition to training, Tamkeen also subsidises the basic salaries of the beneficiary employees. The subsidy amount ranges between BD50 and BD100 for a maximum of two years.

Tamkeen's Senior Manager, Human Capital Development, Ms. Suad AlShakrani, commented: "The Career Progression Programme is a unique, outstanding initiative as it benefits both employees and employers. Not only does the programme enhance the competence of employees by addressing their skill gaps, but it also improves the performance of the private sector in general through the development of human resources, which ultimately contributes to the growth of the national economy."

Zain Bahrain's HR Development Manager Dana Bukhammas, also commented on the announcement "The support of Tamkeen will help Zain Bahrain to implement a tailormade program that has been designed by RPM International Consultancy W.L.L., jointly with its US partners Carew international and Chally Group. We believe that it will vastly improve our KAMs effectiveness and put career progression within reach of many of our team."

 "The Tamkeen-Zain Bahrain partnership will help us to energise our staff and tap new talent through focussed training and effective recruitment of Bahrainis since the Bahranization in Zain Bahrain reaches 90%." She added

Launched in 2007, the Career Progression Programme has to date served more than 12,000 Bahrainis in more than 500 enterprises across all sectors and industries.

Employers wishing to benefit from this programme can visit Tamkeen's Career Progression Office, located on the 3rd Floor of Nuetel Building in Amwaj Islands, contact the Customer Service Center on 17383333 or email Info.cpp@tamkeen.bh.

To date, more than 77,000 Bahrainis and Bahraini enterprises have benefited from Tamkeen programmes, which include training, work readiness, and business support and financing solutions for start-ups and established enterprises.

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About Tamkeen
Tamkeen is an initiative funded by the private sector for the private sector.

Tasked with developing Bahrain's private sector and positioning it as the key driver of economic development. Established in August 2006, Tamkeen is one of the cornerstones of Bahrain's national reform initiatives and Bahrain Economic Vision.

Tamkeen has two primary objectives: Firstly, fostering the creation and development of enterprises, and secondly, providing support to enhance the productivity and growth of enterprises and individuals.

Under each of those objectives, certain mechanisms and innovative support initiatives have been put in place by Tamkeen to address current and future gaps for individuals and enterprises in the private sector that have been identified by thorough studies of the labour market landscape.

For Bahrainis, Tamkeen's programmes range from developing the skills and capabilities of Bahrain's human capital, to promoting sound workplace ethics and training on leadership and management best practices, among others. For enterprises, Tamkeen provides programmes which offer enterprises with subsidised business support services, facilitate access to financing to bridge the enterprise financing gap, and enable entrepreneurship, to name a few.

Tamkeen's programmes have benefited 77,000  Bahrainis and enterprises in the private sector, and more than 150,000 beneficiaries are expected to benefit from these support programmes.

In parallel, Tamkeen's programmes have played a key role in institutionalising new concepts within Bahrain's private sector, including SME and micro-financing, entrepreneurship as a viable career path, women empowerment, modern accounting and auditing systems within SMEs, and many other paradigms needed for a vibrant sustainable private sector.

Tamkeen's funds come from fees collected from the Labour Market Regulatory Authority.

For more information about our programmes, please call:
Telephone 17 383333
Fax 17 382352
Email support@tamkeen.bh
Website www.tamkeen.bh

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© Press Release 2013