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Strategy with substance

IF THE UAE as a young nation has made a major mark in a short span of its existence, the credit for it goes to the strong foundations on which it was built by its founding fathers, and the vision and devotion with which its rulers have pursued their goals and turned their dreams into inspiring realities.

Clearly, it is not just oil that made this great transformation possible: transformation of a desert land into a sophisticated, hi-tech urban enclave matching the best in the world in many respects. The show goes on, and in more imaginative ways, as is seen from the UAE Federal Government Strategy unveiled in the presence of the President, His Highness Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, by His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, this week.

In Shaikh Mohammed’s own words, "the changing times and the nature of the challenges prompt us to think in a different way and adopt international best practices in the area of public administration". The strategy, as he noted, "unifies efforts within a strategic framework with clear objectives based on detailed studies, and identifies and integrates federal and local strategies."

Bearing the unique characteristics of the UAE, the strategy aims at creating a synergy between the federal and local governments, and, at the same time, ensuring that the federal entity is attuned to all changes and developments that are taking place at the behest of local governments.

Strengthening the education and healthcare systems is a major area of interest in the strategy, which reckons that while hundreds of billions were spent on education, health-care, social welfare, sports etc in the past, there were problems with implementation, leading to below-expectation results.

The strategy will also make sure, in future, that the ministries will become productive entities competing in performance at the international level; that promotions are solely linked to productivity and performance, underpinned by complete transparency; that private sector will function with a sense of social responsibility, and not solely motivated by profits; that the judicial system is better equipped; that the process of emiratisation is speeded up; and that those in the rural areas will be better cared.

Without doubt, much thought has gone into the making of the federal strategy. It will see the UAE not only progressing by leaps and bounds, but also in more systematic ways in the years ahead.