BDB, Bahrain Development Bank reveals the total amount of cumulative financing done by bank is BD 592 million since it commenced operations in 1992.
Last year alone, a total of 2695 enterprises benefitted from the bank’s development services, said BDB’s CEO Sanjeev Paul. Speaking at a luncheon seminar organized by the Bahrain India Society (BIS) at the Capital Club, he revealed that the bank’s contribution to funding small and medium enterprises (SMEs) has helped in creating more than 3,000 jobs since the start of 2018.
At the seminar, Mr Paul talked about various shifts taking over the market and how the kingdom could benefit from capitalizing on these changes. He began the talk by highlighting the achievements the kingdom of Bahrain had made . He stated that Bahrain was ahead of the MENA average on most of the parameters . Bahrain had already begun building an ecosystem to support entrepreneurs and that its institutions such as Tamkeen, EDB and BDB had played a critical role in furthering development and progress.
The topic of business incubation and entrepreneurship was widely discussed. To sustain this ascending growth in the market, he mentioned BDB’s schemes that support upcoming businesses and help in their expansion. Some of the schemes mentioned were the Tamweel Scheme, that provided business owners and entrepreneurs with BD 3,000 up to a maximum amount of BD 1 million with 50% of the profit subsidized by Tamkeen., the Tamweel Plus Scheme, which provided BD 1 million up to a maximum amount of BD 2.5 million and 70% of the profit subsidized by Tamkeen, the Women Business Finance Scheme “Riyadat” where BD 5,000 up to a maximum of BD 100,000 is provided and 60% of the profit is subsidized by Tamkeen. Under this scheme the beneficiary is eligible for 100% of the payment of the profit rate, for one time, subject to financing amount of BD 30,000, a loan tenor of up to 3 years and other banking facilities such as overdraft facility, letters of credit, letters of guarantee and more.
The seminar ended on a positive note where the CEO shared numerous success stories along with statistics that showed a rise of expectant jobs, additional value, cumulative financing and development service beneficiaries.
BIS Chairman Raj Damani welcomed the speaker and the gathering , and director Vijay Boloor proposed a vote of thanks. Treasurer P S Balasubramaniam introduced the speaker.