He plans to add another mall by end of this year and hopes to start operations at three new malls next year. While Tariq would like to cover each one of Bahrain malls, there are competitors and financial constraints to deal with.
As president of the Bahrain Young Entrepreneurs Association since 2005, he is acutely aware of the challenges faced by upcoming businesses in Bahrain.
“The government has begun to support small businesses through Tamkeen and BDB, but we need ready infrastructure
and marketing support. Most government trade delegations take along established businessmen, but there’s no support for SME representation abroad in attending trade fairs and exhibitions.”
 Further, small businesses suffer from lack of accurate information, data and business related statistics in Bahrain. “When we require statistics for research and development,
we need to hire a consultant to conduct a feasibility study.
Not many small businesses can afford to do this”.
Bahrain’s FTA with the US provides a valuable opportunity which small businesses can capitalise on, but they can succeed only through government guidance. “We need pointers from the government on which commodities will find a good market in the US and what are the required specifications. We have Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) next door, which is the region’s biggest plastic producer while Alba produces aluminum. We could have incubation centres where small businesses produce downstream products for export to US,” he feels. |
