Sharjah Award for Public Finance Board of Trustees convenes

This step reflects the award's commitment to the highest standards of governance, transparency, and professionalism in the arbitration process and winner selection.

The meeting was attended by His Excellency Salem Al Qaseer, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Award; His Excellency Dr. Nasser Al Hatlan Al Qahtani, Director General of ARADO, Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees; His Excellency Walid Al Sayegh, Member of the Board of Trustees of the Award and Director General of the Sharjah Finance Department (SFD); His Excellency Ahmed Saeed Al Jarwan, Member of the Board of Trustees and Secretary General of the Sharjah Consultative Council (SCC); His Excellency Sheikh Rashid bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Secretary General of the Award and Director of SFD; His Excellency Dr. Azzam Armili, Advisor to ARADO and Member of the Board of Trustees of the Award; Professor Hassan Pasha, Advisor to the Award; and a number of officials.

Discussing the technical evaluation results

The meeting was held as part of the completion of the approved evaluation and judging stages. The Board of Trustees reviewed the results of the individual and institutional categories submitted for the award across its various categories. It also discussed the results of the technical evaluation conducted by specialised judging committees according to precise criteria developed in coordination with ARADO, in line with Arab and international best practices in the field of government financial excellence.

Institutional category winners

The third edition of the Sharjah Award for Public Finance saw broad participation from various Arab countries. Countries participating in the institutional categories included the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordan, Tunisia, Kuwait, Egypt, Morocco, the Sultanate of Oman, Bahrain, and Sudan, all of whom demonstrated pioneering initiatives and projects to improve government financial performance and adopt best practices in governance and transparency.

Individual category winners

In the individual categories, a select group of highly qualified and experienced professionals participated from the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Jordan, Egypt, Iraq, Oman, Tunisia, and Palestine competed. The top three winners in each category were honoured in recognition of their outstanding contributions and efforts to enhance institutional efficiency and develop financial policies and procedures in their countries.

Building a sustainable culture of financial excellence in the government sector

His Excellency Salem Al Qaseer, Chairman of the Award's Board of Trustees, said that the third edition of the award represented a new milestone in the journey of government financial excellence. The approval of the results by the Board of Trustees, in partnership with ARADO, reflects the depth of the award and its impact on institutional financial performance. The award is working to build a sustainable culture of financial excellence in the government sector, in line with the directives and vision of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah. He added that he is proud that the award has become an Arab benchmark for honouring innovation and efficiency in public finance management.

The award has succeeded in motivating institutions and individuals to adopt pioneering financial practices and adhere to standards of efficiency, governance, and transparency.

His Excellency Sheikh Rashid bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Director of the Department and Secretary General of the Sharjah Award for Public Finance, emphasised that since its launch in 2016, the award has served as a pioneering platform for spreading the culture of excellence in government financial work and consolidating the concepts of effective institutional performance. He noted that the award has succeeded in motivating institutions and individuals to adopt pioneering financial practices and adhere to standards of efficiency, governance, and transparency.

His Excellency Sheikh Rashid bin Saqr Al Qasimi explained that the third edition of the award saw a qualitative shift represented by the addition of six new categories at the institutional and individual levels, bringing the total award categories to 22, distributed equally between 11 institutional categories and 11 individual categories. This reflects the expansion of the award's scope and the diversity of its fields, in line with the rapid developments in the public finance sector.

Advanced model of Arab cooperation in supporting the principles of governance, transparency, and government excellence

His Excellency Dr. Nasser Al Qahtani, Director General of ARADO and Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees, explained that the partnership with the Emirate of Sharjah in organising and evaluating the Sharjah Award for Public Finance represents an advanced model of Arab cooperation in supporting the principles of governance, transparency, and government excellence.

His Excellency Dr. Nasser Al Qahtani added that the evaluation of the participating files was based on clear methodologies and benchmarks, and the arbitration process was implemented in accordance with established best practices, which gave the award a high degree of credibility and made it a professional platform that supports institutional development trends in Arab countries.

Examining the ongoing preparations for the winners' honouring ceremony

During the meeting, the General Secretariat reviewed the items on the agenda. The meeting reviewed the ongoing preparations for the winners' honouring ceremony, scheduled to be held next May in the Emirate of Sharjah. Proposals to expand the scope of the award and target a wider segment of participating entities in the next edition were also discussed.

Exceptional level of competitiveness

It's worth noting that the third edition of the award saw an exceptional level of competitiveness at both the local and Arab levels, with high-quality entries reflecting a growing awareness of the importance of adopting modern financial practices and implementing smart and sustainable solutions in public resource management.

The Sharjah Award for Public Finance is the first of its kind in the Arab world, aiming to empower the public finance sector to become an effective pillar and sustainable driver of comprehensive development in Arab countries.