Bahrain's top talented youths are gearing up to showcase their skills and ideas at a one-of-a-kind exhibition, which aims to boost young Bahraini entrepreneurs and expose them to potential investors.

More than 120 people will take part in the Proud to Be Bahraini (P2BB) event, being held under the patronage of Supreme Council for Youth and Sports Chairman and Bahrain Olympic Committee President Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa.

The event will kick off on Thursday and end on Saturday at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir.

Participants, aged between 16 and 35, will show off their talents in various fields, namely science and technology, catering and hospitality, drawing and photography, media and communication and presentation skills.

Fifty will also stage their talents in singing, drama, fashion design, make-up, literature, which includes poetry writing and public speaking and sports activities

"The concept was introduced to reinforce the concept of citizenship among Bahraini youth and to invest young talents in various fields and support them, which will result in being a source of pride for Bahraini citizens," said P2BB organising committee chairman and Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) board member Khalid Al Amin.

"It is an opportunity for major investors to discover young talents."

Al Amin was speaking at a Press conference yesterday at the BIC, in the presence of committee members Abdulla Al Zain, Ahmed Al Akbar and Ifa Hassan.

The programme aims to introduce new mechanisms to encourage the country's youth to take leadership roles and participate in community service programmes.

It also focuses on improving their academic and cultural performance and instils in them a passion for creativity and innovation, said Al Amin.

Each participant will be allocated an individual space to showcase their entrepreneurial ideas, talents and skills.

"The participants will introduce distinct ideas which could be translated into innovative future projects," said Al Amin. "I shall not talk in details about such events but I will leave them as a surprise for visitors. There will also be surprises for the exhibitors, which will be announced on the last day of the exhibition.”

"We contribute to providing opportunities for the youth to secure their deserved bright future, and we will instruct, support and improve their skills for the future."

Organisers expect thousands to attend the three-day event, which will officially open on Thursday at 9.30am.

"The P2BB programme is a first step to discover new talents and evidence that Bahrain is a birthplace of creative young people," said Al Amin. "This is the first time that an exhibition of this kind has been launched in Bahrain. We are expecting thousands of people to attend the event, including government representatives and investors."

Volunteers

Al Amin revealed that a total of 389 applications were received but 120 were selected by the organising committee.

The number of volunteers has also soared since the exhibition was launched last month.

"Volunteers were 60 at the time of launching the idea and now there are nearly 100 young persons willing to work on the organising committee, the media committee, communications committee, supervisory committee and marketing committee," said Al Amin.

Sponsors of the exhibition are BIC, Mumtalakat, Economic Development Board, Tamkeen, Bank Muscat International, Al Bilad, Al Ayam, Al Watan, Akhbar Al Khaleej, BCCI, Ali Rashid Al Amin Investment Group, Balexco and Bahrain Jewellery Centre. – TradeArabia News Service