Shaikh Nasser to patronise forum
date: 20 04, 2010
Apr 20 (BNA) A key forum spotlighting the aspirations and challenges of young entrepreneurs will be held on May 9 under the patronage of Royal Charity Organisation Board of Trustees’ chairman and Supreme Council for Youth and Sport first Deputy Chairman Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa. Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry is organising the event in cooperation with the Labour Fund Tamkeen.
Titled “Steps towards Development”, the joint forum, the first of its kind, will be held under the theme “Together for Bahrain’s Prosperity”. It aims at gauging the aspirations of young entrepreneurs and the challenges they face and boost their role in the implementation of the Bahrain2030 Economic Vision. BCCI chairman Dr Essam bin Abdulla Fakhro hailed Shaikh Nasser for patronising the key event. “Shaikh Nasser’s patronage and the partnership between the BCC Young Entrepreneurs Committee and Tamkeen in organising this symposium reflect the keen interest in the sector and the drive to encourage and support this budding business category so as to anchor the values of initiative, excellence, innovation and promote the exchange of expertise and experiences”, he said.
He also described the key forum as crucial in providing a favourable environment to promote young entrepreneurs within an ever-changing business outlook and a fluctuating economic climate characterised by mounting challenges. He urged all parties to realise the challenges and address them in a well-studied way.
He stressed the importance of youth as the “practical translation” for tomorrow’s horizons and the hope for a promising future. “Bahrain 2030 Economic Vision considers youth as a key pillar”, said Dr Fakhro, reiterating the BCCI support for the vision components, including the youth category. He also stressed the backing of the business community for all initiatives and efforts aimed at meeting these objectives. Young Entrepreneurs Committee chairman and BCCI board member Khalid Al Amin also spotlighted the objectives of the forum.
He also stressed the challenges facing this sector, highlighting the importance of encouraging youngsters to enter business life. He also stressed the need to bridge out between youngsters’ initiatives and projects and the finacial resources, highlighting the importance of promoting investment opportunities among young entrepreneurs. Instilling the culture of budding investors among Bahraini youth in line with Bahrain2030 Economic Vision also came under scrutiny. This is the first time the BCCI and Tamkeen team up together to co-organise such a forum. Specialists from Bahrain and abroad will address the event which features also workshops spotlighting the basic fundamentals of launching a successful business project.
The challenges of business work, the role of Tamkeen in promoting youth and ensuring them opportunities will also feature on the agenda. Meanwhile, Tamkeen chief executive Abdulilah Al Qassimi paid tribute to Shaikh Nasser for patronising the forum. He described business creativity as key to optimise productivity and define future trends in the coming years. He also stressed the importance of the concepts and innovative ideas which would be discussed in the forum.
Tamkeen is a semi-autonomous party in charge of drawing up strategies as well as plans to exploit the fees levied by the Labour Market Regulatory Authority ensuring Bahrain’s welfare. Tamkeen invests heavily so as to boost Bahrainis’ employability, generate jobs and provide social aid packages. Tamkeen also aims to promote Bahrainis as the best choice for employment and back the private sector to operate as the engine of national economic development. Tamkeen has invested to date over BD100 million involving more than 50 projects that target over 20,000 Bahrainis and 5700 enterprises.