The purpose of the project was to assist Tamkeen Agency, Bahrain, to develop: a) a strong labour market intelligence capacity; b) a National Skills and Qualifications Strategy taking account of both Bahraini employment needs and the supply of migrant workers; c) a platform to match the demand for labour (or employees) with the supply of people with the right qualifications and skills; d) ability to make available information on the demand for jobs, and the qualifications and skills required for them; e) the ability to identify gaps in skill levels and address this through the education and training system; and f) the ability to forecast for future skills needs and plan accordingly. In effect, the project involved re-engineering of the public services delivered by Tamkeen and other institutions, by incorporating the use of IT (the ESP system). The Portal is a responsive web application and so is accessible from any device, such as PCs, handhelds, mobiles, etc.

The key stakeholders for the project are Tamkeen Agency, the Ministry of Labour; the High Council for Vocational Training (HCVT); the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB); the Higher Educational Council (HEC); the Quality Assurance Authority for Education and Training (NAQQAET); and the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA).

During the project, the Contractor:
1) Defined the work plan, initial IT system specification, timescale for deliverables, and contract KPIs as part of the Inception Phase
2) Built the necessary mechanisms for developing and maintaining the Employability and Skills Portal (previously known as the Labour Market Observatory – LMO system)
3) Developed the ESP system, data collection, analysis and reporting
4) Built the capacity of key personnel in the relevant public institutions concerned with staffing the Employability and Skills Portal
5) Facilitated the setting up of necessary governance, management, regulatory and administrative structures associated with the Employability and Skills Portal, thus increasing control and consistency of the processes and improving operational efficiency of the public administration authorities