| The new strategy is based on an innovation-based financial system that promotes sustainability and prosperity
Sharjah, United Arab Emirates - Wednesday, April 13th 2016 [ME NewsWire]
In a move to achieve the vision of His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, the Sharjah Central Finance Department (SFD) issued its financial strategy for the period of 2016 to 2018, with an objective to develop a financial, strategic and technical operating system and achieve high performance indicators across various departments, offices and divisions.
The new financial strategy builds upon previous strategic plans, and comes in line with the government’s strategic directions and priorities, and within the framework of its unified vision and teamwork.
The launch of the new strategy follows the realistic approach adopted by the Sharjah Central Finance Department . It involves a study of the financial and economic conditions at the local, regional and international levels, tracing the influential variables and reviewing, examining and analysing a number of internationally recognised models in the fields of government strategic management and public finance. The Sharjah Central Finance Department’s strategic plan was therefore developed to comply with the local and international directions and strategies, with an aim to learn from the experiences of others and achieve the highest levels of interaction.
The plan for 2016-2018 includes several strategic objectives within the Sharjah Central Finance Department’s vision and within the framework to build an innovation-based financial system that ensures sustainable financial growth and socioeconomic prosperity. It also seeks to develop a general framework of the emirate’s financial policy to improve government spending efficiency and financial performance, as well as a financial system that will achieve financial stability and sustainability. A set of measures were taken to ensure effective management of the public debt improves the credit rating of the emirate, and special attention was also given to develop certain skillsets. The strategy is based on several values including transparency, social responsibility, creativity, innovation, integrity and empowerment.
HE Waleed Al Sayegh, Director General of the Sharjah Central Finance Department, stated: “The launch of this strategy reflects the Sharjah Central Finance Department’s goal to carry out the vision of His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, in developing government and financial performance efficiency in the Emirate of Sharjah. The new strategy builds upon the highly successful plans put in place in the previous years, and we are looking forward to adopting a distinctive model in public finance, as we have the required staff and infrastructure to do so.”
Al Sayegh added: “The Sharjah Central Finance Department is committed to keeping pace with ongoing economic development to achieve the optimal results. We are drafting plans for innovative programmes that will serve as the main source of information about the Sharjah Central Finance Department’s projects in the near future, allowing for greater transparency and the tracking of performance indicators.”
During a meeting with the Sharjah Central Finance Department ’s directors of departments and offices, Al Sayegh presented the outcome of the strategy for 2010-2015. He commended the efforts made by employees, which have significantly contributed to attaining positive results and added value to the development strategy, thus accelerating and improving the general performance. This was reflected in the role of government departments in adopting the government financial system.
The Sharjah Central Finance Department has made significant progress in the development of a financial performance system, including the development of a methodology to prepare and implement performance-based budgeting (activities and results). In the development of an accounting system, government account guidelines were also formed, alongside a financial statement preparation project using international accounting standards in the public sector. An integrated accounting policy was adopted in transition to accrual accounting.
As part of the secondary priority of the previous strategy which was reviewed in detail, including the results and the lessons, the financial policy and economic model were found highly successful in carrying out the credit rating project, drafting the framework project for a medium-term budget and the creation of a public debt bureau.
While presenting the Sharjah Central Finance Department’s legislative framework and organisational structure, the achieved results, including the draft financial law, draft procurement law, financial procedure manual development, financial and administrative powers manual, and modernised financial regulatory structure were assessed.
Due to the Sharjah Central Finance Department’s strategic directions, the decisive element in the adoption of the modern best practices for finance is that of national human capital development, which serves as a cornerstone for progress and prosperity. The Sharjah Central Finance Department has thus provided the necessary training and development programmes to drive the process of change and development and achieve the vision of His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah and that of the Sharjah Executive Council.
END
Sharjah Finance Department:
Sharjah Finance Department was established in the mid-1960s as an independent entity to act as the competent authority entrusted to manage the financial affairs and government accounts in the Emirate of Sharjah. Since then, the Department has been advancing the progress of its development to achieve excellence in operational performance, under the guidance of His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, and with the supervision and follow up of His Highness Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler of Sharjah.
The vision of the department is to present the best model for a governmental financial system, in the Arab World; one that links more than 70 government departments. The mission of the department is to optimise the use of resources by using the best accounting and budgetary systems.
Contacts
Araxi Keoshgerian
SAHARA Communications
Senior Account Manager
Mob: 050 4957461
Email: araxi@saharagcc.com
Permalink: http://me-newswire.net/news/17605/en
|
