iGA and Tamkeen sign MoU to Develop Employability Skills Portal (ESP)
03 Nov 2019
The Information & eGovernment Authority (iGA) and the Labor Fund (Tamkeen) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop Employability Skills Portal (ESP), the first online platform of its kind in the Kingdom.
The ESP is designed to help Bahrain’s policy-makers understand the labor market’s needs, making it an important source of information for government entities, business owners, and job seekers.
The President of the Supreme Council for the Development of Education and Training, HH Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa, attended the signing of the agreement, which was signed by iGA’s Chief Executive, Mohammed Ali AlQaed, and Tamkeen’s Chief Executive, Dr. Ebrahim Mohammed Janahi.
Dr. Janahi said: “The platform is in line with the directives of the Kingdom of Bahrain’s leadership, which support digital transformation and the use of modern technology in providing databases with strong foundations and standards that will contribute to the future direction of the Kingdom’s labor market. This is in parallel to the continuous modernization of Tamkeen’s operations and internal programs, especially when it comes to the inclusion of specialized professional programs and updating them to suit labor market changes.”
AlQaed noted that the MoU confirms with iGA’s current works in developing Bahrain’s digital economy and accelerating the adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in government, in line with the directives of HM King Hamad bin Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa.
AlQaed stated that the ESP carries strategic and tactical significance that would be of great benefit to public and private organizations, educational institutions, and job seekers.
AlQaed added that the iGA will build a cloud-based system that will maintain a preliminary database from seven government entities, including are the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, the Labor Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA), the Social Insurance Organization (SIO), the Ministry of Labor and Social Development, the Education and Training Quality Authority, the Civil Service Bureau, and the Higher Education Council. The database will be made available to the public.
The ESP will help educational and training institutions tailor their programs to meet Bahrain’s labor market demands, avoiding potential gaps between skills demand and supply as well as improving the workforce competitiveness.