Development plan unveiled

Dubai: The UAE yesterday announced a three-year development plan, UAE Government Strategy, that is expected to take the Arab world's second biggest economy and the most competitive Arab country to its next level of excellence by 2010.

The core focus of the strategy is to improve government services and bring them in line with the international standards, with special emphasis on education, healthcare and judicial and government services.

"With the passage of time, changes in perceptions have enticed us to think differently and adopt international best practices in all areas of governance. A strategy is therefore needed to take us to the next level," His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, said while unveiling the plan.

Minimum standards

He was speaking in the presence of President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Their Highnesses the Members of the Supreme Council and Rulers of the Emirates, ministers, diplomatic corps and more than 1,000 dignitaries at the Emirates Palace Hotel yesterday.

The plan, divided into six sectors, lays out specific objectives in social, economic and government services; justice and safety; infrastructure and rural areas, including streamlining public service regulations and strengthening coordination between federal and local authorities.

The plan also stresses minimum standards for the work environment and accommodation while formulating a population policy in which nationalisation will be rationally implemented without imposing it on the public or private sectors.

The plan, finalised by six ministerial teams comprising 16 ministers and various workgroups, is the first of its kind in the UAE's 36-year history and reflects the government's determination to eliminate loopholes in its quest for excellence.

Sectors criticised

The landmark move comes two months after the announcement of the Dubai Strategy Plan that is aimed at accelerating the emirate's GDP up to 2015.

Shaikh Mohammad, while explaining the strategy, also strongly criticised some sectors, including education, healthcare and judicial services. "Medical sciences are advancing at a very fast pace, while we have doctors who have not updated their knowledge or attended a single medical conference in 20 years," he said. "We have hospitals that provide state-of-the-art facilities, but still lack required quality standards, competencies and continuous training. We have to change the code of ethics of doctors, nurses and hospitals."

Shaikh Mohammad also expressed anguish over the lack of progress in the education sector, saying: "The budget for education has increased annually for the past 20 years ... Yet, the outcome has constantly been weakening. Here I ask, what does the budget have to do with obsolete teaching methods and curricula? There is no room for compromises in education."

Highlights: Attention to country's major sectors