Bahrain's labour fund Tamkeen has a budget of BD100 million ($263.8 million) for this year.

It includes an unused amount of BD20 million from last year's budget and BD80 million expected to be collected as fees and fines paid by traders, said chairman and acting chief executive Shaikh Mohammed bin Essa Al Khalifa.

About BD23 million were allocated for the support of companies facing challenges last year, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

More than 3,000 establishments benefited from the support scheme, said Shaikh Mohammed.

He was speaking at a meeting of Bahrain Businessmen's Society, chaired by Ahmed bin Abdulla bin Hindi.

A large number of businessmen, including 42 candidates in the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry board elections, attended.

Shaikh Mohammed expressed interest in traders' remarks and recommendations, which he described as being valuable for Tamkeen to reconsider its policies.

He said such feedbacks were behind Tamkeen's decision to stop some programmes like foreign experts' lectures that had proved ineffective. - TradeArabia News Service