Bahrain's Labour Fund Tamkeen said it has signed a strategic agreement with the Office of Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion of Thailand (Osmep) to foster collaboration in the entrepreneurial landscape in both the countries.

The MoU is aimed at sharing information on policies of the development of small and medium-sized enterprises, entrepreneurial ecosystem, including regulatory impact assessment, said a statement from Tamkeen.

Furthermore, the co-operation will focus on enhancing technology and startups activities specifically in the fields of strategic businesses and marketing to enhance competitiveness,, it stated.

The purpose of this MoU is to jointly study opportunities to promote entrepreneurial and startup ecosystems as well as develop frameworks and roadmaps that support companies and entrepreneurs to grow and expand, stated Tamkeen’s CEO Dr Ebrahim Mohammed Janahi after signing the deal with Osmep Director General Suwanchai Lohawatanakul in the presence of Thai Ambassador to Bahrain  Thanis Na Song Khla.

Stressing the importance of the collaboration, Na Song Khla hailed Bahrain and Thailand long-standing history of bilateral relations, especially in the trade sector.

"The two countries have been actively exchanging trade missions in various sectors in these recent years. The MoU would even more tighten the relationship and benefits the people of two countries," he added.

On the partnership, Dr Janahi said this was a key step towards fostering entrepreneurship and the creation of innovative businesses to stimulate job creation and boost economic growth in both countries.

This agreementm, he stated, aims to look into potential ways to benefit from the exchange of expertise as well as explore opportunities to promote the startup ecosystem and its positive contribution to the national economy.

"As well as discussing joint initiatives and projects that shall focus on the development of entrepreneurship, both organizations will work together to establish a close working relationship dedicated to the development and enhancement of small and medium-sized enterprises of the two countries," he added.

The partnership’s activities will include exchange of study visits, training and sharing of expertise and introduction of programmes for SMEs in both countries, said the statement from Tamkeen.

The two parties also discussed the aims and objectives of the Thai Expo SME One Fest held recently in the kingdom, it added.

The expo brought together over 120 Thai representatives from different sectors including fashion, food, cosmetics and technology.-TradeArabia News Service