Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), leading global aluminium smelter, honoured its employees who graduated from the vocational training programme at the Bahrain Training Institute.

The ceremony was held today (June 24) at the Alba Club.

The ceremony, which was held under the patronage of His Excellency the Minister of Labour Dr Majeed bin Mohsin Al Alawi, underlined Alba’s commitment in encouraging its employees to enhance their knowledge base, understand and surpass their potential and achieve all-round productivity.

“The cooperation between the executive management and Alba Union is undeniable and ideal, and brings numerous benefits not only to the employees but to the company as well,” said Jameel Humaidan, Undersecretary for the Minister of Labour.

“We, at the Ministry of Labour, are proud to witness such a fine example of cooperation that exists to serve the interests of the employees,” he added.

 “Training has always been a key element and one of the main objectives to build a society,” said Ahmed Saleh Al Noaimi, general manager of Bahrain Training Institute.

“We, at Alba, are committed to providing the highest quality of technical and industrial training and support it with an annual budget of over BD3 million ($8 million). We have also enlisted the assistance of a team of professionally qualified and experienced trainers and departmental experts in order to empower Bahrainis, which – in return – ensure the growth and development of the company.

“2008 has been a very successful year in terms of training. More than 2,643 employees, which is equivalent to approximately 86 per cent of the workforce, received training. We also have recorded about 442,000 man-hours of training during the year 2008. Seven per cent of total man-hours were dedicated to training and development against a global industry standard of five per cent.”

“Today, Alba includes 47 supervisors and superintendents, 160 Technical Engineers, 94 skilled fitters, and 4 managers who once joined the vocational training programme at Alba. There are also two manages that left Alba to serve the Kingdom in other positions. Most of the managers and executives, including myself, were part of Alba’s training and development programme,” Al Noaimi added.

“Our strong and special relationship with the Ministry of Labour encourages us to request a higher degree than the high national diploma (HND), which would allow graduates to continue with their studies and acquire a better opportunities in their different specializations,” said Ali Al Binali, chairman of Alba Union.

There was also a presentation by one of the graduates, Saeed Mirza that explained the various phases of the vocational training programme at Alba over the two years.

Later on, the Labour Ministry Undersecretary and Alba Chief Executive, and Alba Union Chairman presented the certificates and memorial gifts for more than 30 graduates. – TradeArabia News Service