4. In which ways is the initiative creative and innovative?
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In an attempt to tackle a complex set of structural challenges, the government of Bahrain, recognized the critical importance of creating a dynamic, flexible organization, rather than another bureaucratic government agency. By funding Tamkeen through an ongoing levy on expatriate employees, the organization was assured an independent revenue source and operational autonomy that allowed it to fully focus on its main mission of driving economic development through support to the private sector and Bahraini human capital development.
Tamkeen’s approach has been holistic in recognition of the interrelated nature of many of the challenges it is seeking to tackle. It has devised a broad array of solutions and services for companies and individuals alike. The development of its strategy and offering has been subject to an ongoing, data-based, critical review and public consultations. Where appropriate, Tamkeen has partnered with other organizations to increase the impact and reach of its services.
Throughout the past decade, Tamkeen has been keen to ensure that people not systematically excluded from its reach. In order to maximize its socio-economic impact, Tamkeen has developed targeted solutions for particular groups such as women, youth, and people with special needs, farmers, fishermen, and micro-businesses, including home-based businesses.
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5. Who implemented the initiative and what is the size of the population affected by this initiative?
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Tamkeen has since the beginning recognized the importance of creating an organization of excellence through the rigorous selection and ongoing training of its own staff. Tamkeen started with 25 full-time staff in 2006. In the interests of time, its programs were initially largely implemented by external partners with specialized expertise in the relevant areas. Over time, in-house capacity was development through these partnerships, in-sourcing, and learning. Today, nearly all Tamkeen programs are run in house and the organization has reached a headcount of 280.
Tamkeen has strived over the years to bring its offerings directly to the people. Its on-line portal has been regularly updated and it is regularly conducts outreach activities and events with the people. Tamkeen has set up service centres at the three main cities and has a presence at popular shopping malls where accessibility is at ease for everyone.
In order to best meet customer needs and expectations, Tamkeen introduced flexibility within its solutions. Tamkeen’s business clients are given the freedom to select their preferred suppliers to procure the required product and services. Tamkeen is playing a vital role in co-financing by providing at least 50% of the cost while ensuring legitimate suppliers in Tamkeen’s supplier list. Similarly; individuals who seeks to up-skill, is given the same freedom and flexibility for selecting accredited and licensed training service providers.
In many cases, Tamkeen has been able to enhance its reach and impact through the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model. Tamkeen partners with suppliers and training service providers which can in turn develop further growth opportunities through their relationships with Tamkeen.
Over a decade of existence, Tamkeen’s services have reached the vast majority of Bahrain’s economically active nationals and its corporate population. The organization has served 103,294 individuals with a total spending of $ 232,187,000 and 166,844 businesses by investing $ 946,832,000.
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6. How was the strategy implemented and what resources were mobilized?
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The creation of Tamkeen was a central pillar in the reform agenda launched in connection with the Bahrain Economic Vision 2030. Tamkeen was seen as instrumental for realizing the central goal of putting the private sector at the forefront of growth and improving the competitiveness of Bahraini human capital. The work was overseen and supported by the Bahrain Economic Development Board, an independent quasi-government agency chaired by HRH the Crown Prince.
The approach adopted during the design and development of Tamkeen deliberately sought to include all interested parties in Bahrain. The formation ideas were developed and tested in public consultation forums where all key stakeholders were invited to contribute their views. Subsequently the strategy and programs were put to test through pilot studies in companies from different economic sectors to validate their viability and ease of implementation as well as to assess the impact. As a result of this, a number of key Tamkeen programs were launched:
• Enterprise Support Scheme is co-finance program designed to provide 50% co-finance grants to enable businesses to grow. Support is provided for equipment, ICT, marketing, consultancy, as well as quality certifications.
• Finance Scheme: In collaboration with local banks, Tamkeen offers enterprises at all stages access to capital through partial; guarantees and profit rate subsidies.
• Micro-Finance Scheme allows Tamkeen to collaborate with other stakeholders to fund 50% of the cost of investment. The program is designed in particular to appeal to less advantaged groups such as women; farmers; fishermen and others. The Mega-Finance Scheme supports major projects with qualifying large clients which have received an average of $6.4 million per client.
• The Training and Wage Support Program seeks to assist private companies to employ Bahrainis by providing skill developments and salary subsidies. The objective is to boost economic participation and career development.
• Tamkeen Professional Certifications Scheme supports eligible candidates in attaining professional qualifications from international accredited bodies.
• The Basic Skills Certification Scheme is designed to help Bahraini’s acquire essential skills & capabilities to enhance their chances in finding a suitable job.
• The Business Award Scheme presents an opportunity for young Bahraini students to gain practical experience in the world of business and to stimulate entrepreneurship.
• The Work-ethics Program is designed to develop soft skills and attitudes that will lead to improved employee productivity.
Each scheme is subjected to rigorous evaluation on an ongoing basis. This typically involves focus groups, impact assessment surveys (quantitative and qualitative), performance audits conducted by external auditors, and overall assessments by the National Audit Office.
Tamkeen also has an internal monitoring team which is responsible for conducting site visits and verifying the utilization of fund. The programs are reviewed and validated continuously and modified or replaced as appropriate.
Tamkeen is entirely funded from an employee levy collected by the Labor Market Authority from companies hiring expatriates. In recent years, it has received annual revenue of over $219 million from the expatriate levy fees collected by the Labor Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) and channeled to Tamkeen annually. By not being dependent on the state budget or the civil service regulation, Tamkeen enjoys a high degree of operational autonomy, with an operational budget of $187 million; allowing it to be flexible and adjust to evolving market conditions in a timely fashion.
To date, Tamkeen has invested around $2 billion to support 270,000 Bahrainis since its inception a decade ago, with many of the beneficiaries are being youth, women, people with special needs, farmers, fishermen, and micro-businesses, including home-based businesses.
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7. Who were the stakeholders involved in the design of the initiative and in its implementation?
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In order to accurately understand Bahrain’s labor market dynamics and challenges, Tamkeen involved several stakeholders in the design and implementation of its initiatives. The involvement of these stakeholders’ varied from contributing in the design of the initiatives to implementing part of or whole initiative itself.
The stakeholders included representatives of the government and the private sector alike. The key public bodies included but not limited to the Ministries of Industry and Commerce, Education, Labor, Youth, and Social Development, as well as the Social Insurance Organization, the Supreme Council for Women, the Quality and Qualifications Authority, and the National Health Regulatory Authority.
The private sector entities involved in the endeavor include the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry, small and medium-sized enterprises, large corporations, commercial banks, and development banks, along with individual Bahrainis. Key NGO number the Bahrain SME Society, Bahraini Women’s Society, and UNIDO.
Since its inception, Tamkeen has maintained strong communication channels with its stakeholders through direct visits, workshops and related events, consultation forums, community visits by geographic area, and partnerships with suppliers. Such pro-active involvement with stakeholders has ensured awareness and while attracting potential customers. In an effort to further its understanding of the needs of the economy, Tamkeen has further engaged a dedicated team in community visit in mosques, community halls, and clubs. In 2013 Tamkeen launched community partnership initiative to consolidate relations between all segments of Bahrain’s society and raise awareness about Tamkeen’s services. Through this initiative a direct and solid relation with all local community organizations and NGOs were established.
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8. What were the most successful outputs and why was the initiative effective?
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Tamkeen has been constantly evolving as an organization since its inception in 2006. It has adopted a unique approach in analyzing market dynamics, understanding its stakeholders and building on lessons learnt, which has enabled it to emerge as a key support system for both individuals and enterprises in the private sector with a view to shaping Bahrain’s future and prosperity.
By introducing flagships programs like Enterprise Support, Finance Scheme and Training & Wage Subsidy, Tamkeen has been able to influence the lives of a large number of individuals and enterprises in the Kingdom:
• Tamkeen served a total of 129,432 customers through its different support programs (103,294 individuals and 38,080 businesses). The total customers served to date is approximately 270,000. Tamkeen has also provided services to 46% of all active companies (as measured by commercial registrations) in the Kingdom of Bahrain; i.e. 82,563 enterprises.
• By developing partnerships and co-financing models, Tamkeen has enabled companies to access $40.4 for every spent by $2.6 Tamkeen in its operations. These funds have typically been offered at a highly competitive cost.
• The wage increment offered by Tamkeen, as part of the Training and Wage Support (TWS) program contributed to an average increase of 9% in the salaries of program beneficiaries. To date, a total of 18,961 individuals and 1,580 employees were served under the scheme. On the other hand, 94% of licensed Training Service Providers / Institutes in Bahrain are currently registered with Tamkeen. Over the years, Tamkeen has injected over $202 million of its budget towards training / consultancy service providers. This has allowed companies in Bahrain to benefits from a wide variety of service options in upgrading their operations.
• Based on Tamkeen’s internal impact assessment 71% of employers witnessed improvement in their employees’ performance in terms of speed and quality of deliverables and work ethics standards due to the Training & Wage support program. In addition, 70% of employees stated that the certifications they have acquired have enhanced their work and added to their current qualifications, know-how and expertise, career progression. In fact, 86% of employers witnessed a positive difference in the performance of their staff that have experienced / availed the Training & Wage Support. Around 74% of employers served under the Training & Wage Support and the Professional Certification Support Scheme reported to have witnessed improvement in staff skills in terms of the speed and accuracy of employee performance, quality of deliverables, professionalism…etc. due to the trainings provided.
• To date, over 50,000 women (representing 47% of Tamkeen’s total served customers) have been supported through Tamkeen’s training programs.
A full impact analysis report that highlight as the achievements of Tamkeen’s schemes can be found in the attached supporting documentations.
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9. What were the main obstacles encountered and how were they overcome?
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Tamkeen has faced a number of challenges during it’s just over a decade of operations. It has been able to overcome them through its commitment to ongoing collaboration with the private sectors as well as effective communication and liaison with a wide range of stakeholders. The main challenges faced by Tamkeen have been the following:
1. Private Sector Perceptions: When the labor market initiative was launched, it introduced a monthly levy for every expatriate worker. The labor market perceived this as additional tax on their business. The market was not immediately convinced that Tamkeen’s operations would represent added value that would compensate for the additional cost burden. This resulted in resistance to the initiative and lobbying by businessmen. Tamkeen responded in part by closely involving private business in a dialogue designed to understand and better address their business needs.
2. Customer Demand: The demand on Tamkeen’s programs was not appealing enough to attract enterprises. At the beginning, Tamkeen struggled to obtain customer buy-in for its products and services. Tamkeen had to adopt a proactive approach and it invested massively in preparing a qualified team to build awareness and reach out to potential clients to explain how they could benefit from its products and services.
3. IT System: For Tamkeen to offer its services effectively with its client base; it had to build a robust system that is efficient dynamic and can accommodate the complexity of its operations. With the advancement of the new system it enabled enterprises track their applications; enhancing delivery of services as well cutting down administration burden. Ensuring timeliness of delivery is a key challenge and instrumental to allowing the public to see value.
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