Tamkeen's Mashroo3i Business Plan competition draws large crowd

Following its launch on the 8^th of March 2012, Mashroo3i Youth Business Plan competition has attracted much enthusiastic response with more than 200 young Bahrainis applying to participate in this leading competition provided by “Tamkeen“. This prominent initiative came in line with Tamkeen’s intensive efforts to encourage and promote entrepreneurial culture and activities in Bahrain.  The nationwide Mashroo3i competition gives Bahrainis aged between 16 and 23 the opportunity to unleash their business creativity and learn how to write a viable business plan. 

The best 60 business ideas were selected based on their creativity and uniqueness. The selected teams began their meetings with mentors who will offer them advice about their business plans and meet with them once every week until the plans are launched. 

The mentors, who are leading figures in the business, education, and civil society sectors, said they were pleased to be part of the competition and to help participants develop their business ideas and draft their business plans. The mentors are:

Hassan Haidar, CEO, Tenmou.

Abdullah Al Absi, Blaze Burger owner.

Brandon Moseley, Founder and Managing Director, Sylvan Learning Bahrain.

Damien Balmet, Vice President, Corporate Development, Mumtalakat.

Roua Al Hayki, founder and CEO, ADAMOV Management and Consultancy. 

The competition offers valuable educational lessons and provides a chance for young Bahrainis to learn from experts in a systematic, interactive, and fun manner. The competition's website, www.mashroo3i.bh, will also serve as an information center offering participants training and educational material and resources to help them during the competition. 

The first phase of the competition, which will take up to one month, will be followed by an evaluation phase.  In the second phase, all plans submitted to the website will be assessed by a panel of judges based on specific criteria. Only 30 teams will qualify for the finals and these will participate in a special fair to market their ideas to potential customers and investors in a lifelike experience. The competition will end with a final ceremony in which Mashroo3i trophies will be awarded to the winning teams in the final stage. 

Mashroo3i is one of Tamkeen's leading entrepreneurship promotion projects for 2012. About BD 3.4 million have been allocated for Tamkeen’s various projects, from which over 3,000 Bahrainis have so far benefited. These programmes are managed in cooperation with leading organisations including the Supreme Council for Women, the Bahrain Development Bank, Bahrain Business Incubator Center, and Injaz Bahrain. They include a programme enabling startups to turn creative ideas into real-life business projects. They also include workshops and events for entrepreneurs and customized programmes to support entrepreneurship among women and students.