Tamkeen and Bahrain Development Bank boost SME support with crucial support initiatives

Notes and media contacts

About BDB:
BDB is a specialized financial institution in financing small and medium enterprises and support the entrepreneurship sector in the kingdom, the bank commenced operations in early 1992 and it offers integrated products and financing programs which includes direct financing, joint venture, Islamic financing and SME financing program in cooperation with Tamkeen, in addition the bank participated in the capital of Venture Capital Bank SME fund with 20%. BDB offers training &consultation services in the business management field along with other financing products including education financing and pilot training financing scheme along with agriculture loans.

Tamkeen:
Tamkeen (Labour Fund) is a semi-autonomous yet independent authority which formulates strategic and operational plans to enhance the overall prosperity of Bahrain by investing in Bahraini employability, job creation and social support. Tamkeen is funded by the fees collected by the LMRA.

Tamkeen's main objectives are to support Bahrainis to become the employees of choice, and to support high quality private sector job creation

To achieve these objectives, Tamkeen will invest in the cost and quality competitiveness of Bahrainis (e.g., reduction of cost of employing Bahrainis relative to expatriates, investment in skill and work ethic development programs of Bahrainis); in tackling employment barriers on both employer and labour market entrants' sides through a combination of financial incentives and capability building, and in supporting the private sector's adjustment to new cost structures by providing access to capital to alleviate short-term cash constraints or improve productivity, and in know-how initiatives that support improvements in productivity and decreased reliance on expatriate labour through spreading management and technical knowledge.

Up to the end of March 2009, Tamkeen is investing more than BD70m in more than 30 projects targeting more than 19,000 Bahrainis and 5,700 SMEs. Programmes are continuously being devised as per Tamkeen's strategy and the numbers of beneficiaries are continuously increasing.

For more information on our programmes and initiatives, please contact:
Marketing Communications
Tamkeen (Labour Fund)
Kingdom of Bahrain
Tel: 17383335/17383327
Fax: 17382352