Sheikh Saud attends conference on `Best Practices in Organisational Excellence'

The conference, held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, is aimed at promoting exchange of experiences in implementing quality initiatives and dissemination of best practices among government departments and organisations in the private sector.

In his introductory speech, Sheikh Mohammed bin Kayed Al Qasimi, Vice Chairman of RAK Economic Development Department, said the conference would provide a platform for the government departments and the private sector to share their experiences in adopting organisational excellence as the cornerstone of their organisational policy and mission in order to improve efficiency and to simplify procedures.

He said that Ras Al Khaimah under the visionary leadership of H.H. Sheikh Saud is currently implementing a strategic initiative that would see the emirate achieve tremendous developments in economic and social sectors. "The strategic plan of the emirate exerts prime importance in the development of human resources and to develop suitable talent to help in achieving the proposed developmental goals," he said.

Making a presentation at the conference, Dr. Ali A. T. Bin Obood, Under Secretary at the Ministry of Development for Government Sector, introduced the broad objectives of the `Sheikh Khalifa Excellence Programme'. He said that the Programme aims to enhance the efficiency of the government sector by introducing new values and benchmarks based on the best global standards.

"The Sheikh Khalifa Excellence Programme seeks to achieve excellence in the performance of the government sector, through the application of a universal model of excellence. It also includes a variety of initiatives for fostering creativity, commitment and excellence among all public sector employees," he added.

Engineer Hani Abu El Soud, General Manager of Strategy and Planning at the Department of Civil Aviation, Government of Dubai, recounted the experience of the Dubai Civil Aviation Department in implementing its strategy towards achieving organisational excellence. He said that implementing a quality management system and adopting organisational tools for continuous improvement are the two crucial steps in achieving organisational excellence. "The primary requisite would be that the leadership of organisations should have the understanding of the concept of excellence and commit themselves and their organisations to achieve excellence," he said.

He noted that the astounding success of the Dubai Civil Aviation Department reflects the efficacy of adopting best practices in organisational excellence. "We are now the best airport in the Middle East with more than 117 airlines operating through the airport and handling around 30 million passengers annually," he added.

Prof. Hassan Hamdan Al Alkim, General Manager of the RAK Economic Development Department, other department heads and a number of officials attended the conference.