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The Bahrain Development Bank (BDB) announced it is joining hands with Dubai-based Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation to promote business initiatives to help generate more than 20,000 jobs for young on entrepreneurs.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed last week in Manama by Nedhal Saleh Al Awjan, CEO of BDB, and Sultan Lootah, vice president, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation - Entrepreneurship and Employment.
Launched in May 2007 with an endowment of $10 billion (BD3.78 billion), the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation is spearheading a series of programmes that provide relevant infrastructure and set an appropriate environment for knowledge creation in the Arab world. As part of its mission, it also seeks to encourage Arab intellectual output, facilitate knowledge transfer and nurture young talent, while helping young Arabs overcome unemployment issues.
The agreement between BDB and the Foundation complements their respective strategies towards enhancing opportunities for the young and motivating them to participate in strengthening Arab economic capabilities through launching or operating their own businesses.
The agreement mandates both organisations to identify areas of mutual growth to promote business acumen amongst the young, establish an Arab incubators' network, and facilitate the exchange of information and best practices among decision makers to catalyse regional job creation.
Mr Al Awjan said: "We are keen to enter into strategic partnerships that seek to enhance opportunities for the youth. Our cooperation with the Foundation underlines our objective to achieve sustainable economic development in Bahrain through exploring and facilitating growth opportunities for emerging entrepreneurs.
"The bank will leverage its synergy with the Foundation to explore and identify innovative solutions that will support entrepreneurial business models to evolve into major corporations and successful commercial ventures that will eventually lead to increased job opportunities. Our financial solutions have so far helped generate over 10,459 job opportunities. We are looking forward to doubling these figures during the coming years."
The BDB will provide human resource support to prepare business concepts for potential selection by international high-tech campuses and research facilities. The bank will also participate in developing the content of the 'Arab Entrepreneurs Network' currently being built by the Foundation as an effective platform for the exchange of expertise, knowledge and ideas among Arab entrepreneurs.
The Foundation will facilitate the establishment of academic, institutional and corporate relationships that will contribute to BDB's incubation centre and its incubated businesses through knowledge and financial support.
Praising the role of BDB as a key engine for economic development in Bahrain, Mr Lootah said: "We are glad to partner with such a leading Arab bank in our endeavour to promote entrepreneurship as an effective solution for unemployment in the Arab world. Entrepreneurial talent is the cornerstone for economic growth, especially in the Arab world.
"With an enormous talent pool and a highly promising growth potential, the agreement with the Bahrain bank will help us build solid economic fundamentals in the region."
