DAVOS, SWITZERLAND / ACCESS Newswire / January 22, 2025 / The Bahrain Labour Fund (Tamkeen) has partnered with the World Economic Forum (WEF) to launch the Bahrain Skills and Gender Parity Accelerator. The announcement was made at Davos, exemplifying the theme of the 55th Annual Meeting “Collaboration for the Intelligent Age,” wherein the data-driven accelerator is aimed at closing the gender skills gap in high-growth industries and at increasing the participation of the current and next generation of the local Bahraini workforce.
In the presence of His Highness Shaikh Isa bin Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Isa bin Salman Education Charitable Trust and Chairman of the Board of Directors the Labour Fund (Tamkeen) and H.E. Shaikh Salman bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Minister of Finance and National Economy, alongside other key dignitaries; the agreement was signed by H.E. Noor bint Ali Alkhulaif, Minister of Sustainable Development, Chief Executive of Bahrain Economic Development Board in her capacity as a board member of Tamkeen, also in the presence of Professor Klaus Schwab, Founder and Chairman of the Board of Trustees, World Economic Forum, Sriram Guttta, Head of Engagement and Operations and Member of the Executive Committee and Maroun Kairouz, Director, Middle East and North Africa.
Bahrain has prioritised building a future-ready workforce by introducing a strong educational foundation of robust digital and STEM skills training, reskilling and upskilling its human capital to bridge the gap in global talent. Having proven itself as a regional leader in gender parity and wage equality, according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2024, Bahrain has additionally been ranked within the top five globally for girls outperforming boys in learning outcomes, according to Forum and the World Bank.
Sriram Gutta, Head, Engagement and Operations and Member of the Executive Committee, World Economic Forum, said, “Following our successful initial cycle, which mobilized more than $2.5M in funding and resulted in more than 54,500+ individuals trained, we will continue our collaboration to drive further progress on reskilling and upskilling in Bahrain. Our second cycle of work will have a particular focus on increasing gender parity in high growth sectors and jobs of the future. This initiative joins a network of more than 35 Accelerators championing transformative, local initiatives in their respective countries.”
The island nation is seeking to provide a blueprint for other governments, countries and regions by launching this new accelerator, building on its achievements in developing a highly skilled talent pool. The creation of the Labour Fund (Tamkeen) has been a key driver of Bahrain’s progress, where the Fund offers government-backed training and curated programmes catered to close gender gaps in typically male-dominated industries. The Labour Fund additionally established Skills Bahrain in 2024, an initiative dedicated to unlocking the full potential of Bahrain’s human capital. It collaborates with employers, training providers, and government organisations to provide market intelligence and sector-specific data to identify skills gaps across key sectors in the kingdom.
Through a trailblazing multi-stakeholder partnership model, the accelerator will be coordinated by Skills Bahrain and led by the Bahrain Economic Development Board, and the Labour Fund (Tamkeen), with plans to engage in partnerships with leading entities within the private sector. The subsequent phases of the launch will download insights from the collective organizations and leverage the Forum’s global research efforts to create a cross-sectoral analysis to help identify current and future gender skills gaps, forming instrumental groundwork for an actionable talent development strategy.
Government-led investments in female empowerment and in upskilling Bahrain’s young, bilingual human capital have paid off, earning the country a ranking of 4th Globally for both Women in Managerial Positions and Women with Degrees on the Institute for Management Development (IMD) World Competitiveness Ranking 2024. The diversity of its workforce and proven standing as a leading service hub has successfully attracted global industry giants in the likes of AWS and Citi, the latter of which chose Bahrain as the location for its Global Technology Hub in 2021, pledging to hire 1,000 Bahraini coders.
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For more information, please contact:
Abdulelah Abdulla
Communications Department
Economic Development Board
Phone: +973-39798919
E-mail: internationalmedia@bahrainedb.com
About Bahrain Economic Development Board (Bahrain EDB)
Bahrain Economic Development Board (Bahrain EDB) is an investment promotion agency with overall responsibility for attracting investment into the Kingdom and supporting initiatives that enhance the investment climate.
Bahrain EDB works with the government and both current and prospective investors to ensure that Bahrain’s investment climate is attractive, to communicate the key strengths, and to identify where opportunities exist for further economic growth through investment.
Bahrain EDB focuses on several economic sectors that capitalise on Bahrain’s competitive advantages and provide significant investment opportunities. These sectors include financial services, manufacturing, logistics, ICT and tourism. For more information on the Bahrain EDB, visit www.bahrainedb.com.
SOURCE: Bahrain Economic Development Board
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