Manama, Interior Minister General Shaikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, Chairman of the Ministerial Committee for Information and Communications Technology (ICT), today attended a graduation ceremony for the first batch of the Technical Development Programme. The Education Minister, Transportation and Telecommunication Minister, Cabinet Affairs Minister, and senior government and private sector officials were also present. The Technical Development Programme is considered one of the most prominent national pioneering projects. It was organised by the Ministry of Labour, the Information and e-Government Authority (iGA), the Labour Fund (Tamkeen), and the Bahrain Institute for Banking and Financial Studies. It contributes to achieving sustainability and competitiveness in the public and private sectors and provides quality opportunities for qualified Bahrainis in technical jobs. The Interior Minister hailed the directives of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa on digital transformation and expansion o f e-services to achieve digital sustainability. He hailed the support and follow-up of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, to promote Bahrain's technical sector regionally and internationally through IT and telecommunication advancement per global standards. He said that the graduation of the first batch represents an added value to the national electronic foundation, and contributes to achieving the strategic inspiration of the Economic Recovery Plan. He highlighted the role of the Education Ministry in providing youth with digital training because the digital sector is the only language that links the world now. He noted the role of the Information and eGovernment Authority in providing more than 860 e-services and more than 20 national systems, along with giving e-channels to facilitate the processing of applications. He affirmed that the graduation of the technical cadres would positively reflect on performance, speed processing of work, and flexib ility. He congratulated the graduates, the programme's organisers and all partners. CEO of the Information and eGovernment Authority, Mohammed Al Qaed, highlighted details about the programme and the efforts to achieve its success. He noted that Bahrain has been ranked among the countries with many trainees and certified individuals in cloud computing and individuals with specialised and professional certificates. The programme was organised through on-the-job training in different technical directorates and fields. After completing the programme, 41 participants got job opportunities, 24 of whom were recruited in the public sector and 17 in the private sector. A video about the programme was shown, and the graduates expressed their thanks and appreciation in a speech. The Interior Minister honoured partners, representatives of the government sector and companies, as well as the graduates. Source: Bahrain News Agency