755 enterprises benefit from Tamkeen scheme

Manama, August 27, 2012

Bahrain’s labour fund, Tamkeen, has announced that 755 Bahrain-based enterprises have benefited from its ‘Mohasaba’ scheme, which helps enterprises upgrade their accounting systems to be on par with international standards.

Mohasaba is part of Tamkeen's flagship enterprise development support programme, which provides accessible business support services to enable private sector enterprises to enhance their productivity and growth.

Under this scheme, Tamkeen supports the beneficiary enterprise for two years by paying upto BD4,000 ($10,638.29) out of BD4,500 for the full accounting and auditing service package and up to BD1, 250 out of BD1, 500 for auditing services only.

Additionally, it provides a BD300 grant for the enterprise to purchase modern accounting software. This support enables the enterprise to implement an advanced accounting system, utilise proper internal auditing practices, issue regular financial reports, analyse financial data, and publish auditing reports.

In total, the ‘Mohasaba’ Scheme targets 1,200 enterprises. It was launched after a thorough study of market requirements which identified the lack of proper accounting and auditing systems as a basic and critical gap that needed to be addressed.

The scheme has been successful in propagating the importance of proper accounting and auditing practices as a prerequisite to improving enterprise performance, particularly within SMEs.

Furthermore, appropriate accounting and auditing practices allow ideal management of financial resources and strengthen the enterprise's ability to make the right decisions, obtain banking loans, and forge partnerships with other businesses.

Tamkeen’s private sector support senior manager, Mohammed Bucheery, said: "In developed economies, the adoption of modern accounting systems is among the key factors which are looked at to determine whether an enterprise is mature or not. This level of sophistication is precisely the level that we want Bahraini enterprises to reach, regardless of the size or sector."

"When ‘Mohasaba’ was launched, all accounting and auditing businesses in Bahrain were invited to be service suppliers. In all, 14 such firms were involved in the scheme at that time. However, this system created some serious issues that negatively affected the quality of services offered to its beneficiaries.”

“To rectify this, the scheme was re-launched through a public tender containing certain conditions to avoid those problems. Only three firms - BDO, Ernst & Young, and KPMG Fakhro -- presented bids, and the three of them were appointed as authorised service providers for this programme," Bucheery added.

As part of its continuous efforts to respond to labour market requirements and allocate its available financial resources in the most impactful way possible, Tamkeen will conduct an impact assessment study to determine the benefits from the scheme and identify aspects that can be improved in the next phase of the scheme, he said.

This includes modifying the current system to allow more accounting and auditing firms to participate in the scheme so long as the quality of the service provided to beneficiaries is not compromised.

Tamkeen has so far designed 180 programmes from which more than 50,000 Bahrainis and Bahrain-based establishments benefited. – TradeArabia News Service

Tags: Bahrain | Manama | Tamkeen | Mohasaba Scheme |