www.bahrainthismonth.com business bites 30 February 2021 One of the leading Bahraini financial institutions in the field of Islamic banking, Al Baraka Islamic Bank (AIB), has been awarded the ‘Best Islamic Retail Bank for Social Responsibility Award 2020’ and ‘Best Islamic Retail Banking Product (Assets Side) 2020 for Tamkeen Finance’ by the Awards Committee of the Islamic Retail Banking Awards (IRBA). The Online Awards Ceremony (OAC) of the 6 th edition was held live on December 15 and broadcasted through multiple online channels. Chief Executive Officer of Al Baraka Islamic Bank, Hamad Abdulla Al Oqab, said: «We are extremely honored and proud of receiving these awards from this prestigious institution, and we perceive it as an added motivation for us to continue improving our retail banking portfolio and creating value-added products, along with offering the best Sharia-compliant banking services around.» The Islamic Retail Banking Awards (IRBA) is the first-of-its-kind Islamic banking awards program based on the most academically rigorous analysis of global Islamic banking efficiency performance. ‘Tamkeen Finance’ allows entrepreneurs to grow their businesses further with fully Shari’a-compliant finance facilities from Al Baraka Islamic Bank in partnership with Tamkeen. AND THE AWARD GOES TO… Intertek, a Total Quality Assurance provider to industries worldwide, has announced that it has awarded Arabian German Manufacturing Company W.L.L in Bahrain (AGMA), the ISO 22716:2007 certification for Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) for cleaning products. AGMA is one of the main producers of cleaning products in Bahrain, and has achieved certification for the ISO 22716:2007 standard for the first time. The award was presented to Head of Quality at AGMA, Sana A. Aleem Abdullah, by Area Manager at Intertek Business Assurance Bahrain & KSA Western Region, Hesham Abbas. ISO 22716:2007 is an international standard for Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) that provides guidelines and requirements which an organisation must meet to assure its products meet industry standards. ISO 22716 introduces a management systems approach to documenting and regulating the production, control, storage, and shipment of products. The ISO standard’s guidelines also provide manufacturers with practical methods for managing the many factors that can affect product quality and is aimed at enhancing the safety and quality of the products. Chairman of the Bahrain Society of the Private Training Institutes (BSPTI), Nawaf Mohammed Al Jishi, affirmed that training institutes can play a prominent role in promoting the Kingdom’s leadership in the Human Development Index (HDI) of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). «Bahrain has maintained its position in the ‘very high human development’ category of the index, based on its average income, education, and the participation of women in the workforce. Training institutes play a significant role in linking education and practical training, in addition to training of Bahrainis helps them improve their income levels by finding a job opportunity or career advancement. In addition, women represent the most extensive part of the total number of trainees, which qualifies them for greater participation in the labor market,” said Mr. Al Jishi. In UNDP’s report which was recently released, it indicated that between 2014 and 2019, Bahrain has gone up six positions, making it the Arab country with the second-largest upwards leap in terms of the HDI ranking. REINFORCE BAHRAIN’S LEADERSHIP IN HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDEX Economic expert, Ammar Awachi, has highlighted that the kingdom, through the Central Bank of Bahrain, has made strides towards understanding, enabling, and localising the cryptocurrency industry - continuing the path of success achieved by the field of FinTech. He stressed the importance of boosting awareness about the concept of digital currencies, including Bitcoin, among the Bahraini community considering the significant increase in Bitcoin’s value recently. “Bitcoin is described now as ‘Digital Gold’, referring to investors› reliance on it as a store of value in times of crisis, similar to what happens with gold. Digital currencies are not expected to replace their traditional counterparts during the next five years at least, but they will strengthen their position as a store of value,” explained Mr. Awachi. “It is imperative that people understand the definition of its working mechanism and how it is used and traded, in addition to digital wallets dedicated that exist in diverse forms of software or electronic services that can store cryptocurrency and conduct transactions,” he concluded. BAHRAIN MAKES STRIDES IN ADOPTING CRYPTOCURRENCIES GOOD MANUFACTURING PRACTICES IN BAHRAIN
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