Tamkeen has signed an agreement with German chemicals giant BASF to provide support to its new operation in the kingdom, which will be its largest plant in the Middle East on completion.

The contract was finalised and signed in Munich, at an Economic Development Board (EDB) business development roadshow in Germany.

Tamkeen will work with BASF to support the employment and training of Bahrainis for the new operation based at the Bahrain International Investment Park.

The new plant will demand a range of skills, including engineers/technicians, for production, maintenance and quality control as well as administrative support services.

'The establishment of BASF's largest investment in the Middle East in Bahrain serves to illustrate the ongoing success of Bahrain's programme of economic diversification,' EDB chief executive Shaikh Mohammed bin Essa Al Khalifa said at the signing ceremony.

'BASF recognised the value of basing operations in the kingdom, including the duty free access to the GCC region and the US as well as access to a skilled workforce,' he added.

'However, our work does not stop at the point a company agrees to locate in Bahrain. Through Tamkeen and the EDB, BASF will be given as much support as it requires to not only establish, but also grow its business in Bahrain underlying the kingdom's status as the gateway to the Gulf's trillion dollar market,' he added.

'BASF's operation will be a significant addition to Bahrain's economic make-up as a research and development intensive, hi-tech industry,' Tamkeen chief executive Mahmood Al Kooheji said.

'We can expect it to grow and become an anchor for more companies and jobs in the future. It is vital that it receives support from Tamkeen at the outset to help it develop and train Bahrainis to meet the unique skills requirements demanded by the company and the wider sector as this becomes a larger part of the Bahrain economy,' he added.-TradeArabia News Service