Tamkeen wins Major Regional Award for Training & Development of Finance Professionals

Tamkeen won the “Training and Development of Finance Professionals” award at the  “Middle East Accountancy and Finance Excellence Awards”, which was held in in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Organised by the ICAEW (Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales) and sponsored by Emirates NBD, the awards recognise excellence in the field of accounting and finance. Chief Executive of Tamkeen, Mr. Mahmood Hashim Al-Kooheji, accepted the award.

Since its inception in 2006, Tamkeen has launched several programmes focusing on the areas of finance and accountancy which cater to both enterprises and Bahrainis.

For individuals, Tamkeen enabled nearly 700 Bahrainis, including school and university graduates, job seekers, and industry professionals, to get accredited certifications such as ACCA, CAT, CMA, and APRM through its “Finance & Accountancy Professionals Scheme”. Tamkeen also enabled over 80 Bahraini professionals in the financial arena to get CIMA certifications to boost their career progression. A further 2,100 Bahrainis benefited from the “Professional Certification Scheme”, which includes subsidies for over 100 certifications, many of which are finance and accountancy-related.

For enterprises, Tamkeen subsidised the cost of implementing sound accounting and auditing systems in 835 Bahraini enterprises through the “Mohasaba” scheme, which enables them to make better business decisions and obtain financing.

In a statement regarding the announcement, Mahmood Al-Kooheji said: “We would like to thank the ICAEW for organising this event, and are deeply honoured to represent the Kingdom of Bahrain here at these awards.”

“Winning this award demonstrates Tamkeen’s commitment to enabling Bahrainis to achieve their potential by creating opportunities for them in a wide range of growing sectors, while at the same time enhancing the capabilities of enterprises to boost their growth and productivity,” he added.

Peter Beynon, ICAEW Regional Director Middle East, said: “Tamkeen should be very proud of this award – it has been recognised as being the best in the region for the way it supports the training and development of Bahrain’s private sector. Moreover, this has been done by some of the toughest critics available; leading figures from within the accounting and finance industry. Training and development in all professions, but especially in financial services, will be a key part of achieving the aims of Bahrain Vision 2030, and Tamkeen is making a clear contribution to prosperity in the country.”

This is the second major regional award for Tamkeen in less than week, having recently won the Mohammed bin Rashid Award as "Best Initiative Supporting SMEs in Arab Countries.

To date, more than 65,000 Bahrainis and enterprises have benefited from Tamkeen's schemes. It is expected that the number of beneficiaries of Tamkeen's different schemes will exceed 100,000 beneficiaries.