The company will provide contact centre services to the public and private sectors, and will also operate the National Contact Centre. This centre provides all the e-Government’s integrated services and is an addition to the other service delivery channels that serve all citizens, residents, and visitors to the Kingdom which include the National Portal (Bahrain.bh), the Mobile Gateway and the eServices Centres.
“It is my pleasure to launch Silah Gulf which is established in line with Bahrain’s Economic Vision 2030, through achieving the strategic objectives of the eGovernment Authority Program dedicated to provide eServices at the Kingdom of Bahrain, as Silah Gulf will be providing contact centre services to the public and private sectors, locally and internationally,” Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa said.
Silah Gulf is one of the leading initiatives for the Kingdom of Bahrain government towards contributing to the national economy to develop employment opportunities for Bahrainis. Such an initiative will attract the foreign investments to the Kingdom of Bahrain.
“By this inauguration, we aim at achieving the main objectives and offer the best services with the needed speed and easiness, according to international standards set by Merchants Company, which has 30 years experience in the field, which is evidence of the confidence of global companies in the economy of the Kingdom of Bahrain-based growth and development in various fields,” he added.
Kamal bin Ahmed Mohammed, Minister of Cabinet Affairs in his speech underlined the importance of establishing the National Contact Centre and its impact on the quality of government services offered to the public.
He mentioned that in order to create Silah Gulf Company, the eGovernment Authority collaborated with Merchants; one of the most reputable international companies specializing in the call centre industry. The company is located in the United Kingdom and South Africa and has been established for 30 years. Its parent company is NTT, an international Japanese firm known to be the largest company in Japan with yearly revenues of 100 billion dollars. NTT is ranked 31st on Fortune’s list of the 500 Largest Companies in the world. The fact that these large companies are investing in the Kingdom of Bahrain is evidence that proves their trust in Bahrain’s economy and its ability to develop and generate income.
The Minister lauded Bahrain’s efforts in attracting large international companies to establish a national economy based on knowledge, information technology, telecommunications as outlined in Bahrain’s Economic Vision 2030.
He also added that the National Contact Centre was one of the eGovernment’s initiatives to offer the best eservices by gaining individuals’ and businesses’ satisfaction.
“Silah Gulf Company is composed of professional teams that deploy world best practices enabling them to deliver efficient and high quality services to local and regional customers.”
Mohammed Ali Al Qaed, CEO of the eGovernment Authority, Chairman of Silah Gulf indicated that Silah Gulf Company employs in its contact centres international standards which are considered to be the most unique and advanced in the region in terms of office layouts, logistics, and technical equipment due to the partnership it has with Merchants.
“Silah Gulf Company owns a technological base that permits it to provide all sorts of services to any company. Additionally, it has great potential to expand in the future and for its services to reach further locations in the Middle East”.
Al Qaed also covered the different phases of the launch of the contact centre in Bahrain, within its eGovernment program, in addition to the challenges that were faced during the establishment of the company.
The ceremony was concluded with a presentation done by Joseph Tawfik, CEO of Silah Gulf, on the main objectives of the centre, success factors of this project and the specialized human resources utilized in the contact centre.
Tawfik added that since the inauguration, Silah Gulf has already started providing its contact centre services to numerous clients and employs over 200 staff.
Silah Gulf has already started to implement studies and businesses with a number of GCC companies, in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, United Arab of Emirates, Oman and Qatar, as part of the company’s strategic plan in expanding and recruiting 1,000 Bahrainis.
“We proudly announce the launch of Silah Gulf, that comes as a result of the hard work between us and the eGovernment Authority and the rest of the board members” he noted that Merchants Company has decided to partner with the eGovernment and invest in the Kingdom of Bahrain, due to the economic strong foundation Bahrain enjoys, in addition to its environment-friendly features which help business growth and obtain benefits to all involved parties,” said Adam Foster, CEO of Merchants Company.
“Silah Gulf will be one of the best call centre companies in the region, which will provide its services to the public and private sectors, according to the latest techniques utilized in the international contact centres, in order to guarantee the best quality of services provided to customers”.
The National Contact Centre’s number is 80008001 and operates 24 hours from Sunday to Thursday whereas on Saturdays from 8am to 4pm.