GEN Laying Foundation for International Connections in Bahrain Ahead of GEC 2019

The Chief Executive of the Labour Fund “Tamkeen” Dr Ebrahim Mohammed Janahi has recently announced that the Kingdom of Bahrain is gearing up towards hosting the 11^th Global Entrepreneurship Congress in April 2019. Bahrain has been named host country for the Congress at a special event at United Nations HQ in New York,” he noted.

“The Bahrain chapter of Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) has recently been setup as the Kingdom prepares to host the 11^th GEC in 2019. Dr Janahi said that GEN Bahrain aims to engage entrepreneurs and ecosystem stakeholders to strengthen the country’s entrepreneurship community, in line with Tamkeen’s objectives of nurturing and supporting an innovative entrepreneurship ecosystem.”.

“Achieving sustainable economic growth is a top priority for national development. Bahrain’s Leadership has introduced a number of key reform initiatives to support economic diversification and openness as well as the development of non-oil sectors, the enhancement of the Bahraini entrepreneurship ecosystem and the attraction of foreign investment,” he added.

The establishment of the GEN Bahrain is initiated by the GEN in strategic partnership with “Tamkeen”, which will also be supporting the organization of GEC 2019.

Esam Hammad, Acting Executive Director of Customer Engagement at Tamkeen, is supporting the development of GEN Bahrain in the capacity of acting Managing Director. He stressed the role of GEN Bahrain in providing an active platform for local and international connections within the global entrepreneurship ecosystem.

“GEN operates in more than 170 countries. It fuels start and scale ecosystems by fostering cross-border collaboration, information exchanges and initiatives,” Hammad pointed out.

GEN Bahrain aims to increase the number of people choosing entrepreneurship as a career path, create a generation of investable startups and develop strong platforms for companies to scale. It will be an active leader in engaging citizens during Global Entrepreneurship Week, being held in November.

GEN Bahrain aims to strengthen its ecosystem by:

1. Coordinating and promoting local initiatives aimed at strengthening Bahrain’s entrepreneurship ecosystem
2. Partnering with local stakeholders to implement high-impact GEN programs
3. Engaging ecosystem stakeholders to identify gaps, facilitate dialogue and strengthen a sustainable development cycle for entrepreneurs, and
4. Raising awareness of entrepreneurship, innovation and self-employment as a means to create value and make the Bahraini private sector an engine of growth.