Kuwait Finance House – Bahrain has officially launched the previously announced ‘Wa’ed’ Graduate Trainee Program which is a structured and customized program organized by Kuwait Finance House – Bahrain in partnership with the Bahrain Institute of Banking and Finance (BIBF), and which aims to train and enhance the employability of Bahraini graduates and to equip them with the necessary skills required to enter and succeed in the job market. Twenty Bahraini graduates have been welcomed to the program in a launching ceremony held on Monday 19^th September 2022 at the BIBF premises.

In attendance were key guests from the Central Bank of Bahrain namely Mr. Khalid Hamad Al-Hamad, the Executive Director of Banking Supervision; and Ms. Khawla Ebrahim, the Acting Director of Islamic Financial Institutions Supervision Directorate; and from  the Bahrain Association of Banks, Dr. Waheed Al Qassim, the Chief Executive Officer have all attended the launching ceremony where they expressed their commendation of the efforts of Kuwait Finance House–Bahrain and  BIBF in investing in the development of Bahraini youth and praised the strides of Kuwait Finance House–Bahrain towards increasing the career opportunities available for graduates. In addition, Dr. Ahmed AlShaikh, the Director of BIBF, Mr. Abdulhakeem Yaqoob Alkhayyat, the Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of KFH–Bahrain as well as a number of representatives from both entities had attended the launch ceremony.

The ceremony began with a recitation of verses from the Holy Quran followed by an introduction to the graduates partaking in the program, and an introductory session detailing the program highlights. A speech was given by Mr. Alkhayyat, addressing the graduates on effectively benefitting from the program and leading a successful career. The event also included a special induction program aimed to prepare the participants and provide them with the necessary information to start the program and succeed in it, as well as success tips and advice addressed by the experienced attendees to the graduates to help the graduates start and thrive in their future careers.

Commenting on the occasion, Mr. Khalid Al Hamad, Executive Director – Banking Supervision at Central Bank of Bahrain, said: “Firstly, I would like to thank KFH – Bahrain and BIBF for their quick response in preparing this program, which is based on the Bank’s nationwide initiative to train and qualify graduates to excel in their future careers. I would like to urge the participants to seize this opportunity and work towards creating a good impression, in addition to continuing to seek knowledge from diverse, reliable and accredited sources with a focus on discovering their creative skills and enriching them as much as possible. I would like to wish everyone great success in their future career paths.”

Mr. Abdulhakeem Alkhayyat, Managing Director and CEO of KFH – Bahrain, said: “As part of our commitment to social responsibility, and our ongoing efforts to support Bahraini youth, we have ensured developing a structured graduate program which constitutes an enhanced addition to the other existing internship programs that we continue to offer throughout the year. We, at KFH – Bahrain, are dedicated to introducing and delivering effective development initiatives which aim to elevate national talent; and we aspire through this program, to enrich the banking and financial services sector with the prominent knowledge, skills and competence of our young talents.”

Ms. Sara Zainalabedin, Head of Human Resources at KFH – Bahrain, said: “The program has been structured to allow the graduates to develop the workplace success skills with a focus on the core values and priorities which we cherish the most at KFH including shariah compliance, collaboration and teamwork, innovation and a focus on achieving excellence and sustainability; all of which are key principles in everything that we do and deliver at KFH. We also highly value the efforts of the Central Bank of Bahrain and the Bahrain Association of Banks in ensuring the development of a universal framework for a national skills-based Internship Program and ensuring that such a framework is applied and implemented within the Financial Services sector. We, at KFH, have ensured that all elements and core standards of this framework have been embedded in the deliverables of Wa’ed program; which further enriches the graduates’ experience under this program.”

The trainees are scheduled to spend the first month of the program at the BIBF, during which they will receive intensive training courses delivered by qualified BIBF trainers, followed by a series of awareness and educational lectures which will be conducted by a number of experienced employees at KFH – Bahrain. Subsequent to that, the participants will receive on the job training for a period of two months in one of the Bank’s functions to gain experience and practical skills in specialized fields.

At the end of this first phase, which will be for a total of three months, five participants will be selected for the second phase of the program, which will be for an additional three months. Participants in this phase will undergo a rotation program in the various functions of KFH-Bahrain for two months. In the third and final month of this phase, the participants will be assigned to submit and implement an innovative enhancement initiative in the field of digitalization or another area such as developing new products and services and streamlining work processes.