Bahrain may soon be home to an excellence centre on productivity measurement and enhancement, if discussions today (January 22) prove fruitful.

The discussions on the possibility of a project on employee productivity, technology and innovation being set up in Bahrain are to be held as a key workshop concludes today, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

Organised by Bahrain-based Mena Centre for Investment in co-operation with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (Unido), Tamkeen, and Ebtikar Association, the two-day workshop at the Diplomat Radisson Blu Hotel, Residence and Spa has seen discussions on measuring productivity, components of productivity growth and ways and means of improving the culture for product and process innovation.

It has been overseen by Unido's Dr Anders Isaksson and Professor Meryem Duygun of the University of Hull, UK.

The opening ceremony yesterday was addressed by Mena Centre for Investment's board of trustees chairman Dr Zakaria Hejres, Tamkeen vice-chairman Khalid Al Amin, Unido Bahrain head Hashim Hussein, business investment and technology service branch director Dr Mohamed Lamine Dhaoui and Ebtikar Association founder and president Osama Al Khajah.

According to Dr Hejres, productivity has a central role in the Economic Vision 2030, govenrment's strategy as well as planned economic and labour reforms.

“Productivity is important because it can improve the well-being of the Bahraini people by increasing standards of living through income gains, either in terms of wages and salaries or in terms of profits,” he said.

Dr Hejres has called for more research that looks at Bahrain productivity levels relative to international benchmarks.

“As our economy continues to adjust and transform, we will need more research at the industry level into productivity especially, in services and non-marketable sectors,” he said.

Al Amin said better understanding of productivity as a concept would enable further understanding of utilising it within ventures both on a large and small scale.

“To make Bahrain's economic growth inclusive and sustainable, we need to be able to compare productivity across various sectors such as banking, service, health and tourism in order to get a holistic and well-rounded understanding to measure efficiency,” he said.

“The final result will hopefully see the possibility of an established project in Bahrain that will showcase productivity, innovative use of technology and originality in concept.”

Other experts expressed the hope that the workshop would lead to enhanced understanding of measuring productivity, draw added research in the area and bring about a more international outlook for Bahrain. - TradeArabia News Service