eGovernment Authority announces the Kingdom's First National Contact Centre

The initial contract of BD109 500.00, to design and build the centre has been awarded to BDO Jawad Habib, one of Bahrain's leading strategic consultants.

Mr. Mohammed Al Qaed, Chief Executive Officer of eGovernment Authority said:

"The development of a National Contact Centre is a revolutionary step towards improving communication within the Kingdom of Bahrain. Coordinated and supervised by the eGovernment Authority, the National Contact Centre is a collaborative effort of the government which supports and underlines our commitment of providing integrated government services under one umbrella, using modern technology."

"BDO Jawad Habib was chosen as a strategic consultant for this project because of its unrivalled international expertise and strong local market knowledge in the Kingdom. They have partnered with UK based contact center specialists Analysys Mason and we are confident that they can take on this challenge and add immense value to the centre operations with their expert guidance and management competencies."

Established in 1980, BDO Jawad Habib is a leading firm of public accountants and management consultants. Commenting on the deal Mr. Jawad Habib, Senior Partner of the BDO Jawad Habib, confirmed that the National Contact Centre is an exciting and challenging undertaking. "This is a tremendously important project for Bahrain, and we are proud to play such an important role in it. The portfolio of services we offer this project underscores our commitment to aiding the development of the country."

eGovernment Authority's vision is to create a modern, world class National Contact Centre in Bahrain which besides providing convenient and speedy customer access to the government services, will also help diversify the Kingdom's economy making it more service oriented. The contact centre will create more than 200 jobs for young Bahrainis, especially women, who will be trained as per international standards both in English and Arabic.

The 24/7 contact centre once fully operational, will provide a vast range of services for all government departments including information on locations of various offices, documentation requirements, government procedures, laws and visa regulations amongst many others.

The announcement of this strategic deal comes soon after the launch of a new web portal name - www.bahrain.bh - designed to make it easier than ever for everyone living and working in Bahrain to access e-services. The e-portal offers a total of 65 Government e-services, with additional 25 services due to be launched by the end of 2008.