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Tamkeen

Developing and enhancing the skills of individuals and providing them with support, as well as financing projects to achieve their growth

Empowerment for Individuals and Enterprise

The Labor Fund or Tamkeen (an Arabic term that means empowerment) is a public authority established as one of the cornerstones of Bahrain’s national reform initiatives and Bahrain’s Economic Vision 2030 to support the private sector and reinforce its role as key player in the national development.

Support for Job Seekers  

Tamkeen supports individuals by financing training programs, professional certification, and wage support. Tamkeen also has programs that can help Jobseekers pursue entrepreneurship as a career choice by providing guidance as well as financial support.

Support for Students

Tamkeen gives Bahraini Students a head start by providing them with a range of offerings that can give them the exposure required to make better career decisions. Students can obtain support for attaining professional certifications, enter business plan competitions and learn about ethics in the work place. 

Support for employees

Tamkeen provides working Bahrainis, with a variety of support programs to gain more knowledge in their fields which can help them progress in their careers. These programs can also help Employees who want to shift their career paths or are considering entrepreneurship as a career choice.

Tamkeen support to business

Tamkeen, a government agency tasked with developing Bahrain’s private sector and positioning it as a driver of economic growth, launched a Business Continuity Support Programme to help minimise the pandemic’s impact on businesses. The initiative, which received more than 17,000 applications, was a major component of the economic stimulus packages announced by the Government of Bahrain early in 2020.

In line with directives by His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the programme offered financial support to adversely affected small and micro enterprises provided they met certain eligibility criteria:

  • Active Commercial Registration/valid license.
  • Micro and small enterprises (up to 50 employees).
  • Based and operating in Bahrain.
  • Has employees registered under Social Insurance Organization/Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA).
  • Provides audited financial statement or inhouse management accounts for 2019 (if available)
  • Should not be more than 50% owned by the Government.
  • Should not have active LMRA offenses.
  • Should not have active violation(s) with Tamkeen/LMRA.
  • Should be able to show that their operations are adversely affected by the repercussions of COVID-19.

The disbursements began in April 2020 and continued for three months. Certain industries that were more severely impacted, such as the hospitality sector, enjoyed further Tamkeen support following the initial disbursements.

Support for Enterprises

Tamkeen provides a range of business support solutions including financing, grants, advice, and information sharing to enable businesses to respond to challenges more effectively and be more productive. The support and advisory services of Tamkeen encourage entrepreneurship and support existing businesses to grow to the next level.

The support is customized to meet the needs of all business to meet their growth needs on every stage of their lifecycle, from planning & pre-startup stage, to scaling-up and maturity stage. 

  • Pre-startup Enterprises: Support for starting a business venture.
  • Start-ups Enterprises: Develop and grow business with funding and Advisory.
  • Scale-up & Mature Enterprises: Support to expand and grow.

Support for Women 

Tamkeen launched a series of initiatives in cooperation with the Supreme Council or Women (SCW) to support women in the business world. 

The programs offered by Tamkeen are specifically designed to support women-owned Startups to help them develop and grow with access to Sharia-compliant financing at a competitive profit rate, in addition to programs for skills development and professional certification to support women in the labor market.

National Employment Program 2.0

Tamkeen offers its programs for individuals and enterprises focusing on supporting the employment of Bahrainis. This comes as part of the ongoing mission of making Bahrainis the employee of choice in the labour market. The program provides wage support for Bahraini job seekers and fresh new graduates registered within the Ministry of Labour for a period of up to 36 months.

Tamkeen Support Programs