Sharjah Award for Public Finance concludes its programme in Cairo

This came under the patronage of His Excellency Dr. Saleh Al Sheikh, Chairman of the Central Agency for Organisation and Administration in Egypt and Vice Chairman of the Executive Council of the Arab Administrative Development Organisation affiliated with the League of Arab States. 

The programme was attended by His Excellency Walid Al Sayegh, Director General of the Sharjah Finance Department, His Excellency Dr. Nasser Al Hattlan Al Qahtani, Director General of the Arab Administrative Development Organisation and Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Award, Engineer Hatem Nabil, Undersecretary of the Agency on behalf of Dr. Saleh Al Sheikh, Ambassador Ashraf Rashid, Advisor to the chairman of the agency for international relations, in addition to His Excellency Dr. Azzam Ermeli, Advisor to the Agency, Member of the Board of Trustees of the Award, Hassan Pasha, Advisor to the Award, Nasser Kashwani, Head of the Logistics Support Team of the Award, a group of representatives of the entities concerned with public money management and quality and excellence management, and a group of experts and specialists in the field of public finance and financial employees in a number of ministries and government departments in Egypt.

Keeping pace with the best financial and administrative practices

His Excellency Sheikh Rashid bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Secretary-General of the Award, said: "The Award is recording positive growth in its awareness and promotional efforts in the Arab world, which is reflected in expanding the circle of those wishing to participate and nominate for its various categories at the institutional and individual levels, stressing the importance of combining efforts and competencies to work together to enhance the concepts of sound financial management and achieve distinguished government financial performance in order to accomplish sustainable and integrated development that meets the aspirations of governments and serves societies."

His Excellency Sheikh Rashid bin Saqr Al Qasimi stressed the keenness of the Sharjah government to adopt and sponsor initiatives that support excellence, innovation and creativity in financial work and keep pace with the best financial and administrative practices that consolidate efficiency, increase effectiveness and push towards high-paced productivity, increasing quality and solid governance in the Arab region. Thanks and appreciation to the Emirate of Sharjah for its interest in enhancing the efficiency of public finance and spreading best practices

The opening ceremony of the award's introductory programme was launched with a speech by the Central Agency for Organisation and Administration delivered by Engineer Hatem Nabil, in which he expressed thanks and appreciation to the Emirate of Sharjah for its interest in enhancing the efficiency of public finance and spreading best practices in this field by launching this distinguished award. Sharjah, under the leadership of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, has a forward-looking vision and a pioneering role in keeping pace with the best international practices and developing various sectors, including the public finance sector.

He stressed that the Sharjah Award in Public Finance aims to encourage optimal investment of financial resources and enhance the principles of transparency, accountability and governance, and is not just a competition, but a platform for cooperation and exchange of expertise at the level of the Arab world, reflecting the Emirate's keenness to consolidate the values of excellence and spread best practices in public finance management, and a deep awareness of the importance of financial management as one of the pillars of a successful government system, and one of the main drivers for achieving sustainable development, transparency and effectiveness in institutions.

He stressed the keenness of the Central Agency for Organisation and Administration to enhance administrative efficiency and achieve a balance between building institutions and enhancing human capabilities, through well-studied plans and training programmes to build the capabilities of government sector employees and raise the level of general performance, which positively reflects on the quality of services provided to citizens. He pointed out that cooperation between various entities, whether at the local or regional level, is the most successful way to achieve common goals.

The importance of partnership and cooperation between government entities

This was followed by a speech from the Arab Administrative Development Organisation by His Excellency Dr. Nasser Al Hattlan Al Qahtani, in which he pointed out the importance of partnership and cooperation between relevant government entities with the aim of enhancing institutional financial sustainability by making this award a success and activating it and adopting its visions and goals, while praising the efforts of government institutions in the Arab world and their keenness and cooperation to achieve the objectives of the award, by hosting and embracing the activities of the introductory and promotional programme for it, reviewing the activities of the Arab Administrative Development Organisation as a specialised Arab organisation with its main headquarters in Cairo and its regional headquarters in Sharjah, where it carries out training programmes and consulting studies. Holding conferences, events, intellectual production, and presenting awards, as these awards must have an Arab dimension and sponsorship from Arab governments. Among the most prominent of these awards is the Sharjah Award for Public Finance.

On the first day of the introductory seminar, the first session was launched, and Dr. Azzam Ermeli spoke about the objectives of the award and its institutional and individual categories, and provided a comprehensive explanation of the criteria for evaluating these categories.

The second session, presented by Nasser Kashwani, focused on defining the conditions for participating in the award and the mechanism for registration and nomination using the electronic system, followed by a speech by Dr. Nashwa Sharaf El Din, one of the winners of the second session, who reviewed her experience in winning one of the individual categories in the previous session of the award, which gained the attention and appreciation of the attendees.

The programme agenda during the first and second days also included holding 4 training workshops accompanying the symposium presented by Dr. Mohammed Hassan Abdul Majeed. In the first workshop witnessed on the first day, the participants learned about the concepts and mechanisms of planning the state's general budget, and included defining the basic concepts of the general budget, explaining the mechanisms for planning the general budget, and methods of collecting data and economic forecasts.

Challenges of monitoring the general budget and international best practices

The second day included organising 3 training workshops, the first of which focused on the mechanisms for implementing the general budget, managing revenues and expenditures, and managing risks in implementing the budget, while the second workshop addressed monitoring and evaluating the general budget, future challenges, and evaluating the financial performance of the budget, while the second day concluded with a workshop that addressed the challenges of monitoring the general budget and international best practices.

Spreading the culture of distinguished government financial work

The Sharjah Award for Public Finance was launched in 2016, and achieved qualitative successes in building and empowering a solid knowledge and institutional structure related to financial sustainability in the Arab world, and achieved important achievements in spreading the culture of distinguished government financial work, its concepts and practices at the level of institutions and individuals, and motivating them to adhere to the standards and requirements of financial performance.

The third edition of the award witnessed the addition of 6 institutional and individual categories, bringing the total categories to 22 categories, including 11 institutional categories and 11 individual categories, where the new categories at the institutional level were represented in the category of the distinguished entity in cash management, sovereign funds and financial banking services, the category of the distinguished entity in financial project management, the category of the distinguished entity in achieving financial sustainability, and the category of the distinguished entity in financial scientific research, while the new individual categories were represented in the distinguished Arab financial sector manager, the distinguished head of the financial department or the distinguished middle management level, and the distinguished Arab financial expert, noting that registration for the award continues until February 2025.