Leading minds from Bahrain’s business fraternity met to discuss the opportunities, challenges and necessary initiatives required to give impetus to the kingdom’s growing economy at an event organised by Falak Consulting recently.

Its first quarterly ‘FC Power Lunch’ for 2015 featured eminent personalities including Mahmood Al-Kooheji, chief executive officer, Mumtalakat; Dr Jarmo Kotilaine, chief economist, Economic Development Board; Sheikh Hesham M Al-Khalifa, deputy general manager - Non financial services, Bahrain Development Bank; Mohammed Adel Fakhro, chairman, MBA Fakhro Holding; Marwan Tabara, managing partner, Stratum; Jitender S Shekhawat, principal director, Falak Consulting; and Suhail Algosaibi, chairman and co-founder, Falak Consulting.

The discussion focused on three key parameters – Best Practices Followed, Challenges Faced and the Suggested Way Forward for Bahrain’s current business community.

It emerged that the most relevant best practices that need to be incorporated include empowering teams, inspiring people to take ownership, mentoring and guiding teams rather than enforcing rules, removing the fear of consequences, and encouraging risk taking.

While at one level businesses need to build teams based on values and loyalties, at another level enriching the knowledge base of the young workforce in Bahrain through research and development needs serious consideration.

While the market has many promising opportunities, the challenges faced include difficulty in finding the right talent at the right price, difficulty in getting regulatory approvals and time consuming processes involved in starting new businesses.


“I take this opportunity to thank everyone who attended the lunch today. It is a rare occasion when such a distinguished gathering discuss and share their expert opinions on making Bahrain more business friendly and I hope the key takeaways from our discussions today benefit the business community as a whole,” said Algosaibi.

Finally, the deliberations of the participants concluded that the growth drivers that need immediate consideration are non-resource based, with a focus on growth of the human capital. This would entail better education opportunities as well as appropriate on-the-job training on the one hand, and a special focus on formalising and improving vocational training on the other.

The recommendation for the government was to focus on improved and friendly regulations to enable new entrants into the market as well as easier means to establish and run enterprises.

“One of the distinguished guests had an interesting take on the way forward for the kingdom, stating that Bahrain has a legacy of genuine openness and tolerance towards change in the business sector and has always been very receptive to new ideas,” said Algosaibi.

“Our efforts should concentrate on providing a business environment conducive for the young, enthusiastic population of Bahrainis to work harder and contribute effectively to the economic growth of the country,” he added. - TradeArabia News Service