Bahrain labour fund Tamkeen hosted a graduation ceremony on Saturday for the second group of Bahraini professionals who benefited from its accountancy, finance and Islamic finance programmes.

A total of 100 graduates received certificates in a number of professional qualifications after completing the course requirements, conducted at the Ernst & Young Training Centre.

The ceremony was attended by senior officials from Tamkeen, headed by Tamkeen chief executive Mahmood Hashem Al-Kooheji, Ernst & Young, CIMA president Gulzari Babbar and former ACCA president Dean Westcott.

Launched in October 2007 as part of Tamkeen’s objective of up-skilling Bahrainis and enhancing their employability, the programme seeks to enable around 800 Bahrainis to pursue accredited professional qualifications to pursue or accelerate their career in the field of accountancy and finance.

Commenting on the occasion, Al Kooheji said, “At Tamkeen, we strive to provide Bahrainis with the skills needed to advance in their careers and apply those acquired skills to become more productive and gain a competitive edge in the labour market. We are delighted to see another group of Bahrainis reap the fruit of their hard work and wish all the best in their future endeavors.”

The E&Y Training Centre has enrolled over 700 Bahraini applicants to the programme, with 135 having completed their course to date, including 80 Foundations in Accountancy (FIA), 32 Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), 9 Certified Management Accountants (CMA) and 14 Associate Professional Risk Managers (APRM) certifications.

Over 280 candidates are currently in the process of being qualified in these qualifications mentioned above.
 
Essa Al Jowder, the office managing partner (OMP) of E&Y Bahrain said “We are proud of the number of Bahrainis who are qualifying internationally recognised professional designations like ACCA, FIA, APRM and PGQ-CIMA today. We as E&Y are well placed to help Bahrainis to succeed in these internationally accredited designations as we employ highly qualified and experienced staff in all initiatives undertaken for Tamkeen."

"I am particularly proud of the fact that majority of our candidates were able to achieve above average global pass rates in all programmes due to high standards we set ourselves in training," he stated.

Most of the graduates are already in the workforce as part of the mandate to find employment opportunities to qualified Bahrainis. The Ernst & Young Training Centre, located at the Al Moayyed Tower in the Seef District, gave the trainees access to qualified instructors, approved revision materials as well as case studies, extensive class work and simulation to prepare effectively for their examinations.

 Deen Jayah, the director for training services with E&Y Bahrain said the training centre is dedicated to act as a catalyst in qualifying many Bahraini accountants and finance professionals in Bahrain with the support of Tamkeen.

"We are delighted to witness 100 Bahrainis receiving these internationally recognised designations today. Tamkeen’s skills gaps initiatives equipped these candidates to be the employees of choice in the field of accounting and finance. This is evident by the high percentage of these candidates who are already employed in the business community contributing positively to Bahrain," he added.

To date, more than 77,000 Bahraini individuals and enterprises in Bahrain have benefited from Tamkeen programmes to date, and the total number is expected to rise to more than 150,000.-TradeArabia News Service