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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Sustainable growth key to GIFT-MENA road map

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SALALAH, AUGUST 23 - The Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI) Governorate of Dhofar hosted Extraordinary General Assembly of the GIFT-MENA Network in Salalah on Wednesday. The meeting holds significance as it aims to agree on a road map and action plan to institutionalise the Network and streamline its offer of services.


The GIFT-MENA road map is in line with the recent Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the Network, and in particular Goal 16, which targets peace, justice and strong institutions. The two-day Salalah General Assembly of the GIFT-MENA (The Governance Institutes Forum for Training in the Middle East and North Africa) Network was inaugurated by Shaikh Abdallah bin Salem al Rawas, Chairman of OCCI Dhofar.


The General Assembly is organised in collaboration with the Arab Planning Institute and the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs. It brings together more than 50 participants, presidents and directors of human resources management of 13 civil service training schools, members of the network from Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Sudan and Tunisia, in addition to representatives of partner organisations from among Development Funds, multilateral cooperation agencies, and European, regional and international organisations.


The Salalah General Assembly is aimed at offering a unique occasion for schools of government and their partners to share their challenges and experiences in building the public sector’s capacities for governance and sustainable development.


In his welcome note, Naif al Shanfari, Chairman of the Training and Labour Committee at the OCCI Salalah, highlighted the added value for the Chamber by hosting the GIFT-MENA Network meeting in Salalah and made special mention of the fact that “the Network has been working to foster training and capacity building in the MENA region for the last 10 years. The steps are supporting state modernisation projects.”


Capacity building, according to him, is a key instrument to ensure high quality human capital, economic growth and competitiveness, which help in attaining performance in both the public and private sectors, and leading to sustainable development. Al Shanfari called for future collaboration between the OCCI and the GIFT-MENA Network to strengthen training services in line with the Arab region’s priorities.


Dr Badr Malallah, Director-General of the Arab Planning Institute, stressed the role of the Network since its creation in 2006, as platform for dialogue, exchange of successful experiences and building of sustainable partnerships among its members and with its partners. He also mentioned the support of the Arab Planning Institute to the activities of the Network as one of its major efforts in the region towards creating synergies and fostering Arab-Arab cooperation to support State modernisation, administrative reform and good governance.


“In order to achieve regional integration and Arab-Arab cooperation, actors in the region shall work on enhancing bilateral cooperation, strengthening institutional capacities of regional organisations and creating more value for networking, with GIFT-MENA Network being one of the networks to develop and support,” he said.


Lamia Moubayed Bissat, President of the GIFT-MENA Steering Committee, reminded the gathering that the on-going meeting was one of the key recommendations of the General Assembly of the Network held in Paris in 2016, to discuss the future of the Network in light of the actual regional turmoil and the institutional and socio-economic challenges resulting from the refugee crisis and its burden on the countries’ civil service and public finance.


She recalled GIFT-MENA as model of bilateral and triangular cooperation in the MENA region, leading to the creation of several similar Networks serving the region. She also stressed the efforts that Lebanon has been investing to hosting the Secretariat of GIFT-MENA Network at the Institut des Finances Basil Fuleihan since 2006, contributing by that to its strategic vision and the sustainability of its activities and services.


“Capacity building is one of the major factors to foster a sound public action and support efficient institutions. The role of GIFT-MENA works as a platform for dialogue and exchange of good practices among civil service training schools in MENA. But to better satisfy emergent needs of training schools in the region, and in light of the Sustainable Development Goals, it is time the members and partners of the GIFT-MENA Network take part actively in shaping its future at the occasion of this General Assembly and based on the recommendations of two strategic studies prepared by experts,” she said.


Kaushalendra Singh


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