5th Gulf Business Incubators and Accelerators Conference kicks off

Manama, Jan. 5 (BNA): Under the patronage of Abdulla bin Adel Fakhro, Minister of Industry and Commerce, the fifth Gulf Business Incubators and Accelerators Conference, organised by the Bahrain SMEs Development Society in cooperation with the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, was launched today with the participation of a large number of entrepreneurs from Bahrain and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, at the Wyndham Grand Hotel - Bahrain Bay. During the opening ceremony, the Minister delivered a speech in which he stressed that the Conference is an important opportunity for participants to exchange experiences in the field of entrepreneurship and SMEs development given their key role in stimulating and incubating ideas, emphasising the importance of innovation in keeping pace with the latest developments in this field, as the annual meeting of specialists and experts to discuss the most prominent challenges is an important step to promote and develop this sector, support emerging enterprises and raise its competitiveness in light of the requirements in the labour market, such as the importance of technological tools to achieve sustainability and growth in particular, and the importance of innovation and commercial utilization of patents and industrial property, which contributes to progressing local economy particularly in the GCC. Moreover, the Minister noted that the Kingdom of Bahrain is always keen to keep track of the latest developments in the field of entrepreneurship, with its growing contribution to the GDP, and to strengthen the partnership between the private and public sectors to achieve the goals of the Economic Vision 2030, which revolves around the principles of competition and sustainability to benefit from our human resources as our most valuable assets. He added that industrial and intellectual property have a remarkable role in increasing productivity and enhancing competitiveness globally, as nations export their sciences and technologies, and in order to promote innovation in the Kingdom of Bahrain, and to highlight the importance of intellectual property, the Bahrain Centre for Innovation and Technology Transfer was established in cooperation with the University of Bahrain. The minister concluded by saying that business incubators and accelerators have a key role in creating the appropriate environment for entrepreneurs, and Bahrain has succeeded in developing this activity that started in 2017 through the continuous updating of regulatory terms and conditions after constant communication with business incubators and accelerators, and the number of licensed incubators and accelerators reached 28 in various fields, including financial technology, media, and medicine. He added that since the launch of the activity, 757 startups graduated and continued to expand their business in local and regional markets, and statistics showed that 93 graduated institutions showed growth in size, including 86 institutions that turned from micro to small enterprises, 5 institutions that turned into medium-sized enterprises with annual revenues exceeding BD 1 million, and two institutions that turned into large-sized institutions with revenues exceeding BD 3 million, and we will continue to move forward to make Bahrain an attractive center for billionaire start-ups. Farouk Almoayad, Honorary President, stressed the importance of the Gulf Conference for Business Incubators and Accelerators in highlighting the importance of the entrepreneurship sector to the national economy over the past four years, and contributed to providing support and development to this sector. MP Ahmed Al-Salloum, Chairman of the Bahrain SMEs Development Society, praised the great role played by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce in developing the entrepreneurship sector and contributing to the establishment of many business incubators and accelerators that support this sector, expressing his gratitude for the generous patronage of the Minister. He indicated that the minister provides all support to the entrepreneurship sector because he recognises its importance in the development of the national economy. This year's conference will host Prof. Dr. Yousef Zia Ardeel, an expert in industrial incubators, who will give a presentation on the role of business incubators and accelerators in promoting entrepreneurship and innovation. The conference will include three discussion sessions, the first will highlight factors that enable entrepreneurs to invest in new areas to achieve sustainable growth, the second session will discuss the role of investment in the field of technology in supporting business incubators and accelerators and the third session will review models of business incubators and accelerators in various fields.