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Tamkeen – The Labor Fund Tamkeen has announced in a press conference held on Sunday the launching of its new program Taqdeer. The program aims to reward enterprises that exceed their targeted number for their Bahraini employees, as a part of Tamkeen’s ongoing efforts in supporting Bahraini employment, and to encourage more Bahraini employment. The press conference highlighted Taqdeer’s framework, how employers can apply as well as the eligibility criteria for those looking to receive the support.
H.E Dr. Ebrahim Mohammed Janahi, Chief Executive of Tamkeen mentioned that a major goal for Tamkeen is making the Bahraini citizen the employment of choice. Therefore, Tamkeen works continuously on developing its programs and initiatives in order to provide Bahrainis with the necessary tools and skills, making them the employee of choice to business owners. The program’s idea aims on stimulating enterprises to employ more citizens
Dr. Jahani mentioned that being the first initiative of its kind, eligible enterprises will receive a financial grant which can be used in paying expenses related to municipality services fees (violations or similar charges are not included), electricity bills related to the CR, SIO fees, Bahraini employees’ health insurance as well as their training and development plans.
“By launching this initiative, we are seeking to support the private sector and strengthen its position as the key driver of economic growth. Business owners will benefit from Taqdeer as it will help them cover a big portion of their expenses which will empower them to face the economic challenges and move forward to the better’’, he added.
Dr. Janahi pointed out that, since Tamkeen’s establishment in 2006, it provided support to almost 31% of the workforce in the Kingdom, through training and development initiatives that aim to refine Bahraini citizens’ skills and provide them with opportunities that improve their abilities in shaping their future. Also, Tamkeen has helped in creating more than 8,000 job opportunities through the employment support programs.
On the other hand, Tamkeen helped in the past decade in supporting more than 100,0000 Bahraini citizens through its various initiatives targeting individuals which exceeds 120 initiatives. It also took part in training and qualifying about 13,000 Bahrainis in various fields through the Professional Certificates program, which includes more than 370 certificates in 40 specialization, spending more than BD 13.3 million as a part of its investment in this program.
It is worth mentioning that the Kingdom of Bahrain is distinguished by its Bahraini workforce being the highest among the GCC countries in terms of education attainment, skills and qualifications, which allow enterprises to reduce the required expenditure to employ expatriates, building a long term sustainable local workforce.
It is worth mentioning that some sectors have high proportions of Bahraini employees, especially the enterprises that belong to the National Oil & Gas Authority “NOGA”, where their Bahrainsation rate reached up to 99.04% in some enterprises, according to the latest statistic presented by NOGA in 2015. This is considered as the highest among the different sectors in the Kingdom and GCC countries.
The Bahraini workforce make up two thirds of the workforce in the Financial Services sector (66%), according to the Central Bank of Bahrain, which proves the aptitude of the Bahraini workforce and its ability to take responsibilities and grow within the vital roles, which allows enterprises to benefit from their expertise to grow and increase productivity.
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© Press Release 2017
