Tamkeen (Labour Fund) recently inked a deal with the Gulf Insurance Institute (GII) to train and find employment for 100 Bahrainis as administrative assistants.

The two-year BD154,200 ($410,000) agreement was signed by  Tamkeen’s chief executive Abdullelah Al Qassimi and GII's chairman Abdul Muttalib Al Jaidi.

The programme will be open to holders of academic and vocational diplomas to enroll in one of five batches of 20 students in a five-month programme. Successful participants will be offered employment as administrative assistants in the private sector at a minimum monthly salary of BD400.  

The objective of the course is to qualify participants with key competencies in the areas of English and Arabic business writing, customer service, creative thinking and information technology amongst others.

"The exciting aspect of this course is that it opens up unlimited possibilities for career growth for bright and hard-working Bahrainis," said Al Qassimi. "It is a classic example of the productivity of our Skills Gaps initiative that identifies areas in the jobs market where there are gaps in supply and demand and helps to direct training resources there so that employers and employees stand to benefit and the workplace is enriched."

Tamkeen (Labour Fund) is a semi-autonomous yet independent authority which formulates strategic and operational plans to use the fees collected by the Labour Market Regulatory Authority in order to enhance the overall prosperity of Bahrain by investing in Bahraini employability, job creation, and social support.

The GII was set up by regional industry leaders to serve the growing needs for human capital development in the fast moving insurance and risk management sector in the MENA region. Shareholders are major corporates from Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Dubai, Oman, France and Sudan. 

GII was officially incorporated in June 2007 and licensed as a Management and Business Training Institute by the Ministry of Labour’s Directorate of Training Institutes Affairs, Bahrain. GII moved into its centre headquarters in Amwaj Islands, Bahrain, in February 2008. 

Al Jaidi said: “GII welcomes this opportunity play a part in Tamkeen’s initiatives and to contribute to the quality and development of human capital in Bahrain.” – TradeArabia News Service