Manama: Mahmood Rafique, Editor: City Global Technology Hub, a unique initiative that promises creating one thousand jobs in technology sector over the period of 10 years, remained pivotal by elevating the status of technology innovation and creating jobs for the local talent.
“The initial agreement of the initiative with Tamkeen was for ten years but it will continue well beyond that time frame as evolving technology innovation is a massive continuous education process,” Michel Sawaya, CEO Citi Bahrain said during a media briefing at Citi Bahrain Headquarters on Sunday. “We hope our hub continues to deliver the best training for the generations to come, hence, creating job opportunities. People are now five six, seven years old might be employed with us after ten years this that for which we aspired.”
“If you look at the announcement three years ago Citi embarked on a global initiative whereby existing consumer banking in all Asia Pacific not only Bahrain, except Hong Kong and Singapore, so we do not have any consumer business in very limited places including the US, which is our home market. Citi Bahrain offers Corporate Business, we support public sector, we support private names, we support commercial names, we offer services for growth and development of local commercial companies, and off course we want to grow our regional services in Bahrain and on the top of its we offer regional services from Bahrain,” he added.
Citibank, N.A., Bahrain Branch (Citi Bahrain) marked the third anniversary of the establishment of its Global Technology Hub, which holds a Golden License from the Kingdom of Bahrain. A first for the region, the Hub currently provides support to Citi’s global business lines and clients, accelerating the development of its digital agenda, client solutions platforms and expertise, and launched as part of a strategic partnership between Bahrain’s Labour Fund (Tamkeen) and Bahrain Economic Development Board (Bahrain EDB).
Citi selected the island nation as the destination of its Hub for several reasons, including the depth and diversity of Bahrain’s talent pool, which outperformed other regions across the board with the highest pass rate in specialized coding testing compared to other locations globally. Further backed by forward-looking regulatory frameworks, and a business-friendly investment environment, which is reinforced by agile government support that provides tailored incentives, programs and wage subsidies for the local workforce; this earned a pledge from Citi to allocate 1,000 coding jobs for Bahrainis over a ten-year period for the Bahrain Hub.
“At Citi, serving our clients and businesses across the globe, and helping them navigate the challenges and opportunities within our rapidly changing world is fundamental to our mission of enabling growth. Investing in digital technologies, platforms, and talent lies at the foundation of this mission, and the technology hub in Bahrain has enabled us to provide streamlined client experiences and demonstrated successes,” Ilham Kassi Oulhadj, Citi Bahrain Global Technology Hub Head and Global Head of Margin and XVA Technology, said.
“Highlighting Bahrain’s commitment to digital transformation and cementing itself as a strategic hub for finance and tech innovation, the Global Citi Tech Hub exemplifies the trust leading international institutions place in Bahrain as a destination for investment and global services. Besides providing opportunities to accelerate learning and growth, the hub is creating career progression paths for the next generation of coders and is a glowing example of the diversity and expertise of Bahrain’s highly skilled talent pool,” Dalal Buhejji, Executive Director for Financial Services at Bahrain EDB, added.
With an incredibly high employee retention rate in the private sector, females make up 41% of total Bahraini ICT workforce as per Labour Market Regulatory Authority’s Q1 2023 report. Bahrain ranked first in GCC in language skills, and 6th Globally on the 2024 World Talent Report published by The Institute for Management Development (IMD).
With 38% of university student enrollments in (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) STEM programs and the availability of multiple vocational training institutes for specialized technology, Bahrain has built an incredible educational foundation for its talent which continues to attract businesses from around the world to invest in Bahrain year after year.
