His Highness Shaikh Isa bin Salman Chairs Tamkeen’s Board of Directors Meeting for Q4 of 2024

• Tamkeen supports over 41,000 Bahrainis through initiatives aimed at new labour market entrants and career development. 
•  Support has been provided to more than 8,500 enterprises through Enterprise Support Programmes. 
• Approval of the new Skills Bahrain strategy focused on upskilling national talent. 

His Highness Shaikh Isa bin Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Isa bin Salman Educational Charitable Trust and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Labour Fund (Tamkeen), affirmed Tamkeen’s achievements in integrating the national workforce of the Kingdom of Bahrain into the labour market and supporting their career development, under the guidance of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister. This contributes to providing Bahrainis with promising opportunities to further the Kingdom’s development. 

His Highness highlighted that the success of a range of programmes launched in November last year has supported over 41,000 Bahrainis through job creation and career development in the private sector, aligning with the Kingdom’s aspirations. 

His Highness emphasised the Kingdom’s commitment to implementing plans and programmes and adopting initiatives that place citizens at the forefront of the labour market, as well as strengthening partnerships with the private sector to benefit both the Kingdom and its citizens. 

Ms. Maha Abdulhameed Mofeez, Chief Executive of the Labour Fund (Tamkeen), presented the key achievements since launching the programs to date. The achievements include supporting more than 15,200 Bahrainis through programs aimed at labor market integration and over 25,700 Bahrainis through career and skill development programs, whereby the average increase within the wage increment program has exceeded BD80, in addition more than 8,500 enterprises has benefited from various programs aimed at enhancing their growth and productivity.  

Additionally, strategic priorities and KPIs for 2025 were showcased, which include supporting 50K Bahrainis in the labor market and 9K private sector enterprises. The priorities and KPIs are focused on enhancing the competitiveness of Bahrainis in the private sector, equipping Bahraini talent with the skills required to achieve career development in the private sector, and prioritizing support for growth, digital transformation and sustainability of enterprises.  

Tamkeen will also continue efforts aimed at developing the labor market and private sector ecosystem to enhance the impact of its support.  

When it comes to internal operations, Tamkeen underwent a development process to enhance performance and provide excellent customer experience by adopting technology and innovation. This included the launch of a new customer service platform, offering a fully digital experience, implementing open banking, introducing E-Cheques, and many more first-of-their-kind initiatives in Team Bahrain to enhance operations.   

Furthermore, to ensure the optimal utilization of Tamkeen’s support, a comprehensive plan was implemented to enhance regulatory procedures by implementing several measures including enhancement of monitoring efforts and integration with relevant partners to minimize any violations, abuses, or misuse of support. Efforts also included the introduction of a new whistleblowing policy, increase in inspection visits, and authorizing some of Tamkeen’s employees as judicial officers.  

Moreover, the Board approved the new strategy for Skills Bahrain which is focused on upskilling national talent to enhance contribution to sustainable development. This will be achieved by strategically prioritizing a number of areas including labor market data, skill framework improvements, and adopting a skills-first approach. All with the purpose of contributing to high quality training and collaborating with employers to foster a qualified and competitive national talent pool.