Al-Basta Market, a joint initiative between Bahrain's labour fund Tamkeen and the Southern Governorate, is set to open its doors to the public on February 22.

The initiative aims to spur trade activity in the area by establishing a modern and fully-equipped marketplace that will serve as an important destination for traders and residents in the Southern Governorate community and Bahrain, said Tamkeen officials at a press conference.

It was attended by Sheikh Abdullah bin Rashid Al Khalifa, the Governor of the Southern Governorate, Tamkeen senior manager (Private Sector Support) Mohammed Bucheery, Dr Hashim Hussein the head of United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in Bahrain and Dr Waheed Al-Qassem, the CEO of Ebdaa Bank.

The market will be located next to Riffa Views. Over 144 enterprises are expected to benefit from the project over its three-month duration.

Tamkeen's support in this leading project is part of its efforts to develop enterprises in the private sector to make it the key engine of economic development.

The project targets startups and micro-enterprises as well as farmers in the Southern Governorate. Tamkeen will contribute BD60,000 ($159,151) to the project's total budget of BD100,000.

More than 66,000 Bahraini citizens and enterprises have benefited from Tamkeen's various support programmes to date, and the number is expected to rise to 100,000.-TradeArabia News Service