A total of 19 applicants across five categories were qualified for the final stage of the Bahrain Award for Entrepreneurship.

The third edition of the award, held under the patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, First Deputy Prime Minister and chairman of the Economic Development Board, announced the results after a rigorous semi-finalists evaluation session.

“The competition between the semi-finalists was quite challenging which reflects the competitive landscape of entrepreneurship in Bahrain. The 19 finalists stood out from the total 49 applicants who made it to the semi-final round. The evaluation stage included presentations pertaining to their business presented to the technical committee,” said chief executive of Tamkeen Dr Ebrahim Janahi.

The finalists selected for each of the following award categories, are as follows:
•    Micro-Enterprise of the Year: Aisha Abdulmalik for Aisha Jewels; Aysha Al Ghatam for Magical World; and Mohamed Abdeen for Next Level.
•    Start-Up of the Year: Abdulrahman AlMoayed for MotorGulf Events; Faisal Khalifeh for Solar One; Dr Rana AlAmmadi for Dr Rana’s Aesthetic Health Center; Rami Sweis for Gulf Customer Experience; and Shahnaz Bahman for International Business Network Center.
•    SME of the Year: Ali AlHaddad for The Closets; Dr Faisal AlNaser and Dr Fawzan AlNaser for Home Health Care Center;  Mohammed Abdulaal for All Food for Food Stuff; Roaya Saleh for Villa Mamas; and Suhaila Awachi for Taha International Industrial Services.
•    Enterprise of the Year with International Footprint: Bader Murad for Bader Models;   Hyder Cohen for TCIG; and Salman Awan for Awan Media.
•    Sustainability in Business Award: Ghada AlSayed for Horizon Interiors; Mohamed AlMoayyed for AlMoayyed International Group; and Sheikh Rashed AlKhalifa for Peninsula Dairy Farms.

Apart from the above mentioned categories, there are two other awards: Female Entrepreneur of the Year and the Lifetime Achievement Award.

The Female Entrepreneur of the Year Award will be awarded to the highest scoring female entrepreneur for her outstanding achievements in entrepreneurship. The winner of this category will be selected from the list of finalists upon receipt of final scores from the international jury members, and provided she is not a winner in the other categories. The Lifetime Achievement Award will be awarded to a Bahraini entrepreneur for pioneering efforts and contributions of long-standing merit to the community and entrepreneurship. It is not by application.

Bahrain Award for Entrepreneurship project manager Faisal Sultan said: “Members of the technical committee conducted a selection process per category, using quantitative and qualitative evaluation criteria for each respective category.”

The three-day evaluation was held at the Capital Club and was facilitated by members of the technical committee comprising the award’s strategic partners and knowledge advisors including Dr Naser AlQaedi and Yousif Ali from Tamkeen; Sheikh Mohamed Al Khalifa from the Economic Development Board; Ahmed Hejres, Ehab Mustafa and Abdulrahman Awadhi from Unido; Shaikha Al Fadhel and Manar Rabea from the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism; Budoor Kamal from Bahrain Development Bank; and Shayma Kazerooni from EY Bahrain.

The evaluation session was preceded by a one day workshop that took place at the Capital Club.  The workshop aimed at enhancing participants’ readiness for the evaluation.

The selected candidates from this stage will then undergo another workshop in preparation for a final presentation before the jury, prior to the announcement of winners later this month.

The Bahrain Award for Entrepreneurship is organised by Tamkeen in association with its strategic partners including the Economic Development Board, the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, the Bahrain Development Bank, the Bahrain Chamber of Industry and Commerce, as well as its knowledge advisors, the Arab International Centre for Entrepreneurship and Investment – Office of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (Unido) for Investment and Technology in Bahrain, and EY Bahrain. – TradeArabia News Service