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Government departments at the federal level will show many positive changes in their dealings with public transactions soon, UAE Minister of Governmental Sector Development, Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, said yesterday.

He was speaking after a meeting of the GCC civil service and administrative development ministers held in Abu Dhabi at Emirates Palace Hotel.

“There will be many positive changes that the public will see in government departments at the federal level,” he said, answering a question by Khaleej Times.

Al Mansouri explained that the meeting made three recommendations. The first one relates to applying the Electronic Gate all over the GCC countries. All the participating ministers unanimously underlined the significance of such service explaining its importance for providing information needed about the labour market and the training and development projects in the GCC countries, he said, adding that the first recommendation was unanimously accepted as its issue was referred to the GCC Secretariat-General. He pointed out that the amendment to legislation all over the Gulf countries helped find equal opportunities in the GCC labour market.

The other recommendation was about 'a guide for the quality system' to be implemented all over the GCC countries, the minister said, adding that the third recommendation focused on enhancing the strategy of the eGovernment of the GCC countries.

He said there is a proposal to review the experiments of other countries like Malaysia, Singapore and Britain in order to benefit from their experiences. He said officials had discussed the privacy issue of some countries to set a final concept concerning the elements of the eGovernment and how to exchange information among the GCC countries.

Replying to a question from Khaleej Times regarding the process of governmental development in the UAE, Al Mansouri said that there must be a process conforming to the targets of the new government, adding that ministries should be modified before restructuring. Moreover, jobs should be classified in categories, he said. He stressed that the quality of services presented by every ministry in the country should be determined and improved.

Al Mansouri referred to the performance assessment process, confirming that teams allocated for development already existed at every ministry, spotlighting that the implementation of such a proposal will take around two years. He underlined that new ideas will be applied, such as granting awards for distinguished government performance.

After the meeting, Dr Masouma Al Mubarak, Kuwaiti Minister of Planning, pointed out that there are different policies for the job localisation process, adding that Gulf compatriots should play a role in the labour market.

She highlighted that unemployment had become a problem threatening the region, confirming that localisation can achieve demographic balance. She said that in some GCC countries, local population is not more than 30 per cent. She stressed that they kept in touch with the UAE authorities to benefit from the UAE experience in the fields of eGovernment.

Autor/Author: Atef Hanafi

Quelle/Source: Khaleej Times, 12.05.2006