The Bahrain Development Bank (BDB) is bringing policymakers, bankers, and founders together this Thursday for a forum titled “Empowering Bahrain’s Entrepreneurship and SME Ecosystem” at Bahrain Chamber’s Al Majlis Hall in Manama. The morning event on 11 December 2025 will explore how new financing tools and partnerships can help small and medium enterprises scale faster across the Kingdom.

Organised in collaboration with the Bahrain Chamber (BCCI) and the Bahrain SMEs Development Society, the forum will feature a main panel discussion followed by an open Q&A with attendees. Panellists include Ms. Dalal Al Qais, Group Chief Executive Officer of BDB, Mr. Waleed Kanoo, Vice Treasurer of BCCI, Mr. Mohamed Alaali, Member of the Industry and Energy Committee at BCCI, and Ms. Shereen Jani, Board Member at the Bahrain SMEs Development Society. Together they will look at current challenges for entrepreneurs, from access to finance to market expansion, and share where new opportunities are emerging in Bahrain’s SME landscape.

A major focus of the conversation will be Bahrain’s new SME Fund, a Sharia’a compliant facility worth more than USD 185 million that is managed by BDB in partnership with National Bank of Bahrain, Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait, and Al Salam Bank, with Labour Fund Tamkeen covering up to half of the profit rate for eligible clients. In a statement in November 2025, BDB Group CEO Dalal Al Qais said the fund “underscores our long-standing commitment to supporting Bahraini entrepreneurs and accelerating the growth of this vital sector.” The forum will give founders a chance to hear directly how to use this instrument in practice, from eligibility criteria and target sectors to application steps and timelines.

The event also lands as lawmakers debate a separate proposal for a state backed fund for micro and small and medium enterprises. A recent report in the Daily Tribune noted that the government has asked MPs to reconsider the bill over overlap with existing support vehicles such as Tamkeen and current loan schemes. Against that backdrop, BDB’s gathering can help clarify how public private SME financing is already evolving, and where further collaboration between banks, funds, and policymakers can add real value for business owners.

Recent data underline why this matters now. According to the GEM 2024/2025 Bahrain Women’s Report, 57 percent of Bahraini women intend to start a business within the next three years, compared to 54 percent of men. The same report highlights that women led enterprises in Bahrain are more likely to adopt cloud services and data analytics, supported by an ecosystem that includes the Supreme Council for Women, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, and Tamkeen, yet still face gaps in access to capital and markets.

Zooming out, an International Finance profile of Bahrain Development Bank earlier in 2025 noted that SMEs already account for about 93 percent of Bahrain’s commercial establishments. In that piece, Dalal Al Qais remarked that “BDB plays a major role in driving Bahrain’s economic diversification... Our strategic investments have been integral to creating job opportunities.” With digital platforms such as BDB’s tijara service and co financed programmes with Tamkeen, the bank is increasingly pairing capital with quicker onboarding and more targeted advisory support.

For founders, investors, and support organisations, the forum is a live opportunity to ask detailed questions on the SME Fund, understand how banking partners are viewing risk, and share feedback on what the next generation of support should look like. Turning up, engaging in the Q&A, and then following up with BDB, BCCI, and the Bahrain SMEs Development Society after the event is the simplest way to turn a one morning forum into concrete financing and growth pathways over the coming months.