Bahrain's labour fund Tamkeen has announced plans to launch the Mashroo3i Youth Business Awards as part of its efforts to foster and develop entrepreneurship in the Kingdiom.

The pioneering initiative will enable Bahrain's budding entrepreneurs to showcase their creative ideas in a nation-wide competition.

Bahrainis from the age of 16 to 23 will be eligible to enter the competition, which will commence on Thursday.

The competition has already received strong support from some of the kingdom's most prominent members of the business and education communities and civil society bodies.

They are expected to play an important role in the success of the competition by serving as mentors, judges and knowledge resource providers to the participating student teams.

'When examining successful, sustainable modern economies, we often find that entrepreneurship forms the backbone of economic development, fuelling job creation and innovation,' said Tamkeen chief executive Mahmood Al Kooheji.

'As such, we have identified it as one of the key areas of focus within our strategy.

The Mashroo3i Youth Business Competition will be one of the main vehicles by which we accomplish this goal,' he added.

Tamkeen has allocated nearly BD3.4 million ($9.01 million) for 12 projects, including the Mashroo3i Awards, aimed to promote entrepreneurship amongst Bahrainis.

Nearly 3,000 Bahrainis have benefited from these programmes to date, which are run in collaboration with leading organisations such as the Supreme Council for Women, Bahrain Development Bank, Bahrain Business Incubation Centre and inJAz Bahrain.

These programmes range from the start-up support scheme, which provides comprehensive solutions to turn entrepreneurial ideas into actual business ventures, to workshops and networking events as well as special programmes to encourage entrepreneurship amongst Bahraini women and school students.

'Tamkeen's focus is to empower Bahrainis to take control of their own lives in all that we do,' said Mr Al Kooheji.

'Fostering the creation of sustainable and competitive businesses not only enables them to do that, but also helps to form a solid result-oriented and profit-driven entrepreneurial system that bolsters business growth in Bahrain.'

The door for registration for participating student teams and their business ideas for the Mashroo3i Youth Business Awards opens on Thursday.

All business ideas will then undergo a screening and evaluation process to shortlist the most outstanding ones by a panel of experts.

The shortlisted teams will then be assigned mentors to guide them through the next stage of business planning.

All business plans will then be evaluated based on pre-defined criteria by the panel, with 30 shortlisted teams allowed to open for business. They will undertake practical operations of setting up a real-life business by taking part in a four-day exhibition.-TradeArabia News Service