Sheikh Saud honours winners of Sheikh Saqr Government Excellence Awards 2009

Ras Al Khaimah: H.H. Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah, honoured the winners of the Sheikh Saqr Programme for Government Excellence Awards 2009 at a function held at the Ras Al Khaimah Medical and Health Sciences University here.
The Sheikh Saqr Programme for Government Excellence (SSPGE), established in 2004, honours distinguished employees from local government and related sectors through its annual excellence awards.
In his keynote address, Sheikh Saud said that fostering government excellence can have a profound impact on the comprehensive development of the emirate and can work as a catalyst toward having a vibrant economic and business environment. He added that meaningful partnerships between the public and private sectors can help in realizing the development goals as well as enhance quality and innovation in government institutions.
Sheikh Saud also launched a new branding initiative for the government sector of the emirate aimed at having a clear and unified corporate identity. He also inaugurated a new performance management system which will enable the tracking of the progress and effectiveness of various government departments electronically.
Dr. Mohammed Abdul Latif, Director of the SSPGE, said that the adoption of `Outcome based Governance' as a benchmark for deciding the 2009 awards contributed to significant progress in the performance of various RAK government departments.  
On the branding initiative of the government, he said, "We need to raise the level of services offered by government departments to international standards and we would like to derive the competitive advantages of having a unique government identity through the branding exercise."
"Under the newly launched performance management system, each government department is required to feed the electronic system with data and information based on the key performance indicators (KPIs) that are set for the respective department at the start of the year," Dr Mohammed Abdul Latif said
The Ras Al Khaimah Department of Economic Development was presented with the award for Distinguished Government Department at the function. The Award for the best Director General was bagged by Dr. Abdul Rahman Al Shayeb Al Naqbi, Director General of the RAK Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Amena Salem Al Mathkoor of the Protocol Department at the Ruler’s Court won the Outstanding Employee Award.
The other award categories included Best Organizational Unit, Excellence in implementing the EFQM model, Best Quality Unit, and Employee Excellence Awards for Best Executive Administrative Employee, Best Professional Employee and Best Technical Employee.
The awards ceremony was attended by a number of sheikhs, senior government officials, representatives from the public and private sectors and large number of employees.
CAPTION FOR THE ATTACHED PHOTOGRAPH:
H.H. Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah, presenting the Sheikh Saqr Government Excellence Awards 2009 in Ras Al Khaimah on Wednesday.