Organised by the Bahrain SME Society, the 5th Annual SMEs Day Forum reviewed the importance of marketing and export for SMEs at the Gulf Hotel on Tuesday 24th February 2015.
The last session of the day was moderated by Dr Dhafer Alumran (Assistant Undersecretary for GCC Affairs and Western Countries Ministry of Foreign Affairs), with eight distinguished panels members. The session was introduced by Mike Orlov, Partner from SteppingStone Global, who gave a summary of the eight workshops and dialogues which had run earlier in the day.
These seven hours of workshops and dialogues covered a wide range of issues relating to marketing and export challenges including: the role of the Bahrain Development Bank in enhancing SMEs activities; applying lean methods for established companies to aid in their innovation; design thinking for start-ups and SMEs; the importance of social media for SMEs; a dialogue exploring youth entrpreneurship; Tamkeen announcing increased levels of support for SMEs and the need for aligning people in the company as well as suppliers and distributors to maximize marketing efforts and export opportunities.
The opening speech was delivered by Patron of the day, HE Mr Zayed bin Rashid Al Zayani, Minister of Industry and Commerce, followed by a welcome speech from Chairman of the Bahrain SME Society, Dr Abdulhasan Al-Dairi. Four keynote speeches were also delivered at this incitful gathering of business leaders. These were given by: HE Abdulnabi Al Sho’ala, Chairman of Al-Fanar Investment Holding; HH Sh Hessa Bint Saad Al-Abdulla Al-Sabah, Chairperson, Arab Businesswomen Council – State of Kuwait; Dr Abdilaziz Al-Mutairi, Chairperson, GCC Union of Entrepreneurs; and Jean Nicolai, Founder and President, SteppingStone Global.