Tamkeen and Tatweer Petroleum sign agreement to train and employ 60 Bahrainis in the oil and gas sector

As part of its efforts to enhance and improve the skills of Bahrainis and to make them the employees of choice, Tamkeen signed an agreement with Tatweer Petroleum to train 60 Bahrainis at the National Institute for Industrial Training (NIIT) to be employed at the company. The beneficiaries will be divided into two groups, with 40 of them trained in oil and gas field operations and the remaining 20 in mechanical, electrical, and maintenance operations.

Under the programme, to which a budget of BD627,000 has been allocated, beneficiaries in the first group will receive training for 12 months and the second group will receive training for  18 months. Theoretical training will take place at NIIT while the on-the-job training will take place at Tatweer.

As the Oil and Gas industry is increasingly becoming the life line of many economies and where the lack of well qualified and trained workforce is apparent, the programme targets Bahrainis 25 years or younger that hold a technical secondary school qualification or university graduates who hold industrial, technical and vocational qualifications. The combination of theoretical training at NIIT and on-the-job training at Tatweer will ensure that the beneficiaries will receive complete training and preparation for future employment.

Tamkeen’s Chief Executive Mahmood Hashim Al-Kooheji said “The agreement is yet another achievement for Tamkeen’s employment support programmes,” . “These programmes help companies fill vacancies with highly qualified Bahrainis, and at the same time provide Bahrainis with skills that enable them to find careers in the labour market, which ultimately helps further boost and develop the national economy.”

For his part, Tatweer Petroleum Chief Executive Officer Edward Hanley commented: “The oil and gas sector is the largest sector in the GCC region, and its vastly diversified specialisations always require qualified staff with local experience. We are pleased to have signed this agreement with Tamkeen, which will help the company realise its strategic objectives and serve Bahrain’s national economy.”  

According to Tamkeen’s 2013 Operational Plan, the employment support initiative currently includes 23 various programmes aimed at training and employing more than 3,300 Bahrainis. In addition to the oil and gas industry, these programmes cover many other sectors, such as automotive, retail, health, finance, accounting, marketing, logistics, ICT, and legal services.

More than 77,000 Bahrainis and Bahraini enterprises have benefited from Tamkeen programmes to date, with the figure expected to rise to more than 150,000 in the near future.