Dubai, UAE: 1 August 2023 - Under the visionary leadership of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, and the guiding directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, His Excellency Abdulla Nasser Lootah, Deputy Minister of Cabinet Affairs for Competitiveness and Knowledge Exchange, expressed the UAE's unwavering dedication to advancing its global engagement and preparedness for the future through forging meaningful global partnerships to empower governments, support comprehensive global development efforts, and build a better world for future generations.

As part of the UAE delegation's participation in the United Nations High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development in New York, the Government Experience Exchange Office showcased the UAE's world-leading expertise in government development and promoting global partnerships with the aim of empowering governments and enhancing their future readiness in alignment with the directions of the wise leadership. The UAE held productive meetings with delegations from countries such as Serbia, Croatia, Romania, Ireland, Brunei, Tajikistan, and Barbados and others. 

Lootah stated that the UAE government is actively sharing its expertise, knowledge, and successful experiences in government development with other nations. For over fifty years, the UAE has developed a flexible, effective, and innovative business model that governments seeking development can learn from to enhance their performance and advance their societies, aligning with comprehensive global development goals. 
He highlighted that the global forums hosted by the United Nations provides a platform to introduce the UAE Government Experience Exchange Program (GEEP) and showcase its endeavors in reinforcing global partnerships and fostering international dialogue. This initiative is seen as an effective approach to advancing government work, establishing innovative business models, and exploring qualitative opportunities to enhance governments’ performance, thereby contributing to improving people’s lives and accelerating the achievement of the SDGs worldwide.

Lootah further emphasized the Government Experience Exchange Office’s positive outcomes, where governments and countries have been able to leverage the UAE’s unparalleled knowledge, expertise, and experiences in government work to devise innovative solutions for existing and forthcoming challenges. The program’s focus on forging partnerships with governments enables the exploration of new development opportunities, all with the overarching goal of building a better and more sustainable future for societies and peoples worldwide.

Meetings with various delegations allowed the UAE to expand the positive impact of GEEP, which has benefitted around one billion people in beneficiary countries since its launch in 2018. With effective partnerships established in over 30 countries and approximately 30 million work hours recorded, the UAE's efforts to empower governments and create a better future for people are evident.

Strengthening cooperation and exchanging government work experiences with Romania
During bilateral meetings with the Romanian delegation, discussions focused on reinforcing cooperation and exchanging experiences in government work sectors, including government services, youth, education, renewable energy, and the economy. The emphasis was on knowledge exchange and adopting successful government development models from the UAE. They also explored leveraging the UAE Government Leaders Program's model to enhance government management, capabilities, and empower human resources in Romania with future-oriented tools.

Attaining sustainable development in Brunei's government work
Discussions with Brunei centered around exploring opportunities for cooperation and partnership in vital sectors to achieve sustainable development. Key areas of focus included sharing best practices in sustainability, comprehensive development, and government work to enhance performance, productivity, and achieve sustainable development in Brunei's government operations. Through this collaborative effort, both countries aim to establish an exemplary model of government cooperation.

Promoting government cooperation and experience exchange with Ireland
The UAE delegation actively explored avenues to enhance cooperation with its Irish counterpart, with a particular focus on exchanging experiences in modernizing government functions and promoting sustainable development. Discussions encompassed various sectors, such as future readiness by updating government strategies and policies, as well as advancements in information and communication technology (ICT), pharmaceuticals, economic openness, and natural resources. 

Broadening experience exchange with Serbia
The UAE delegation focused on expanding experience exchange with Serbia across various key sectors, including those outlined in the UAE-Serbia MoU on government modernization and experience exchange. The MoU encompasses areas such as smart government services, artificial intelligence (AI) and the metaverse, capacity building, government accelerators, business incubators, science and innovation, creative industries and tourism, programming, the digital economy, education , and competitiveness. Furthermore, the MoU facilitates enhanced training of government cadres, which has already resulted in over 5,400 training hours provided to more than 2,000 trainees through 110 workshops.

Enhancing cooperation in government work with Tajikistan
Within the scope of GEEP, the UAE delegation discussed opportunities for enhancing bilateral cooperation with Tajikistan, focusing on continuous development in economic and diplomatic relations. The discussions also encompassed investments in renewable energy and the environment, as well as leveraging digitization to advance government services and find innovative solutions to challenges while strengthening future readiness.

Sharing successful government work experiences with Barbados
The UAE and Barbados delegations explored avenues to enhance cooperation and coordination across various sectors, with a specific focus on developing and modernizing government work within their strategic partnership agreement for government modernization. This partnership is focused on promoting the exchange of knowledge, expertise, and successful experiences between the two nations to advance performance, productivity, and achieve sustainable development in Barbados' government work ecosystem. The collaboration seeks to enhance future readiness and discover innovative solutions to challenges across various areas of government work.

Establishing a unique model for government cooperation with Croatia
During bilateral meetings with Croatia's delegation, opportunities for cooperation in government experience exchange were discussed, with a focus on promoting government services, practices, proactivity, and excellence in government work, as well as building the capacities of government cadres. The discussions also addressed the design of services that cater to current and future needs in Croatia, aiming to create a unique model for government cooperation that enhances societies' well-being. This collaborative effort is expected to positively impact the acceleration of the SDGs worldwide.