Participants after the meeting in Dubai on Wednesday.

The Ministry of Finance (MoF) held the third session of the “Customer Councils” initiative, as part of the “Zero Government Bureaucracy” programme. The initiative seeks to gather feedback from both public and private sector stakeholders on a range of services provided by the ministry, with the goal of collaboratively streamlining government bureaucracy to better meet their needs and expectations. This is part of the ministry’s broader effort to implement the “Zero Government Bureaucracy” programme, launched by the UAE government to enhance the performance of government operations.

The session was attended by Fatima Yousif Alnaqbi, Acting Assistant Undersecretary for Support Services Sector at the MoF, along with several Ministry leaders. Held in Dubai, the session brought together nearly 50 representatives from government entities and the private sector. It also reviewed the outcomes of the previous two sessions, held in April and July. During these sessions, participants assessed the customer experience, their satisfaction with the Ministry’s services, and discussed ways to enhance, develop, and innovate new approaches to government procedures, including matters related to “improving the customer experience for compliance services with international financial organisations” and “government procurement.”

The session also highlighted key findings and monitored customer experiences with various services following the development and improvement efforts made under the “Zero Government Bureaucracy” programme across multiple areas.

Direct  Engagement: Younis Haji Al Khoori, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Finance, affirmed that the third session of the Customer Councils reflects the Ministry’s ongoing efforts to improve government financial services. He emphasized the Ministry’s commitment to fostering direct engagement and partnership with stakeholders from both the public and private sectors, enabling the design of innovative solutions aligned with their aspirations, thereby enhancing the efficiency and flexibility of the services provided. He noted that this initiative supports the realisation of the UAE’s “We the UAE 2031” vision and the “UAE Centennial 2071”, continuing the momentum of the Smart Government Initiative and the UAE’s approach to designing Government Services 2.0.

Al Khoori added: “The Ministry of Finance is dedicated to supporting the implementation of the Zero Government Bureaucracy programme, which reflects the UAE government’s ambition to create a global model of governance built on innovation, speed, and efficiency. We are committed to ensuring that all our services are accessible, fast, and high-quality, contributing to enhancing the business environment’s competitiveness and supporting economic growth. Through this initiative, we are advancing towards a transformative shift in government procedures, cementing a pioneering future for public financial management.”

In 2023, the UAE government launched the “Zero Government Bureaucracy” programme, aimed at improving government efficiency, quality, and flexibility. This programme provides a national framework for achieving the simplest, fastest, most efficient government procedures, reducing the burdens on companies and individuals in terms of time, effort, and resources, and supporting efforts to promote economic growth and improve the quality of life. The programme works towards reducing at least 2,000 government procedures and cutting completion times by no less than 50%, while eliminating all unnecessary requirements.

The programme is centred on transitioning from lengthy, complex procedures to simplified, streamlined ones by merging similar processes, eliminating unnecessary steps, and reducing the time required to complete any procedure by simplifying existing conditions and requirements.

Separately, the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure (MoEI) announced recently the developing the Federal Roads Service Platform for issuing and renewing NOC for road works.

The move is in line with the Zero Government Bureaucracy programme.

Mohamed Almail, Assistant Undersecretary for the Federal Infrastructure Assets Sector at MoEI, said, “Through developing the platform, the Ministry seeks to keep pace with government aspirations to eliminate bureaucracy and enhance customers’ experience. We aim to implement innovative tech-based government practices to improve efficiency and deliver cutting-edge services that go beyond customers’ expectations.”

He noted that the platform facilitates issuing NOC by reducing the required documents from eight to only three, the procedures from 26 to 13, and the service time from 14 to seven days. As for renewing NOC, the platform reduces the number of procedures from 11 to three and the service time from four days to an instant, with no need to attach documents.

The Federal Infrastructure Assets Sector at MoEI hosted three gatherings that drew the attendance of customers and representatives of private sector entities to engage customers in shaping future services that meet their needs.

In early 2024, the UAE launched a Zero Government Bureaucracy programme, an ambitious initiative aimed at overhauling the current government work structure to enhance service efficiency and quality.

Agencies