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OECD Holds its 3rd Meeting for MENA Senior Budget Officials

Dubai, 31 October 2010: HE Younis Haji Al Koori, Director General of the Ministry of Finance (MoF) , today inaugurated the third OECD Meeting for MENA Senior Budget Officials. The meeting is being held from 31 October to 1 November 2010 in Dubai under the patronage of the UAE Ministry of Finance (MoF) .

The meeting seeks to facilitate exchange of scientific expertise, practical experience and opinions. It also seeks to review best practices in public finance and preparation and implementation of government budgets; and study and assess financial and economic policies that have been implemented between the last meeting in Doha, Qatar in November 2009 and the current meeting in Dubai.

Founded in 1948, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is one of the oldest inter-governmental organizations. Its name was modified in 1961 to OECD. The OECD comprises of countries that apply the principles of free market economy to improve legal, institutional and regulatory frameworks.

The OECD helps member countries in harmonising their systems and legislations in line with its standards. This is done by providing guidance and practical suggestions regarding the application of best structural economic practices and policies to improve economic efficiency. Towards this end, the OECD facilitates the exchange of economic information, analysis and forecasts, in addition to the discussion of important topics related to sustainable development and coordination of economic and social policies. Developing trade, agriculture, technology and other areas are some of the chief goals of OECD. The organization also seeks to study changes, monitor trends, analyze developments and explore future expectations.

The OECD is one of the most credible sources of statistical figures and socioeconomic indicators on member countries. The organization comprises 33 members (including 30 founding members) and about 30 observing non-Member States that benefit from the organization's activities in all fields.

The OECD comprises 33 states and 30 observing non-Member States including the UAE. The OECD organises annual ministerial conferences, specialized meetings of committees and forums in member and non member states. The organisation cooperates with other international organizations to implement standards. During the last decade, several forums were established in Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America and Africa under the supervision of OECD.

The MENA Senior Budget Officials Forum is one of the OECD's most important Forums in the region with more than 30 countries participating in it. Members of the forum are part of a larger global network of senior budget officials. This network facilitates exchange of information and dissemination of innovations in budget development - something that enables senior officials to discuss lessons learned from the successes and failures of other countries, as well to take advantage of the financial management experience of other regions.

The MENA Senior Budget Officials Forum is part of a framework of two programs that seek to implement management and investment initiatives. The first program (Good Governance for Development in the Arab Countries) aims to modernise the structure and processes of public administration, while the second program (Investment Program), aims to improve investment climate and policies. Headed by MENA region countries, this initiative was launched to make large scale reforms that improve investment climate, modernize management structures and operations, strengthen regional and international partnerships and promote sustainable economic development in all parts of the Middle East. The initiative also aims to develop the capacities of countries to implement reforms in policies, facilitate dialogue programs and exchange expertise regarding public management, investment policies among policy makers from Middle East countries and their counterparts in the OECD.

The UAE will present its expertise in implementing principles of zero - based budgeting and adopting mid level plans for preparing the federal public budget draft (2011 - 2013). Steps that have been taken to move to this system and the stages of the specified time to shift from the traditional system to the new one will also be presented. MoF 's automation of budget preparations and implementation of a unified automated system for all ministries will be reviewed. A number of budget officials from OECD member states will present procedures applied in their countries regarding financial governmental accounts, in addition to reviewing how they face challenges and overcome consequences of financial and economic crises. The officers will present their experiences in updating information related to financial approaches. An assessment of results achieved and lessons learned by some OECD countries will be done, in addition to developing OECD plans and work programs for the next year.

The meeting will last for two days. The sessions will be presided over by HE Bader Ahmad Al Qayed, Director of Qatari Public Audit Department, HE Saeed Rashid Al Yateem, Executive Director for Budget and Finance Department at UAE MoF , and HE Martin Blix, Director of the Budget Department at the Swedish Ministry of Finance.

The first session on the first day will be "Updating Information", while the second session will be "Focusing on the Implementation of Mid Term Expenditures Framework; Especially at Start - up Phases".

The third session will be "Future of Financial Transactions; How to Develop Budget Procedures in Light of Uncertainties and Imposed Restrictions".

The second day will start with a the session titled "Assessing Institutions and Expertise in Two Federal Countries Facing Big Challenges in Coordinating Budget's Procedures on Federal and Local Governments Levels (Australia & Canada)".

The fifth session will be "True Information Presented about New Developments in Budget Preparation Procedures - Reviewing Republic of Austria's Success in Implementing Social based Budget - What is the Situation in Some EU Countries?"

The sixth session will be focused on "UAE MoF Presentation about Its Expertise in Implementing Zero Based Budget and Developing Its Dynamics".

The closing session will focus on "Discussing Next Year Work Program and Financial Topics Related to MENA Senior Officers Board - Electing a New President for the Meeting".

To continue cooperation and partnership between UAE and OECD, MoF signed an agreement with the organization to develop a network of strong and effective MENA tax treaties for the period 2007 - 2009. The OECD prepared and designed training courses for the MENA region regarding the assessment and implementation of tax treaties in accordance with international best practices. This is in line with the OECD's central role in developing a network of tax treaties in accordance with its guiding model certified internationally. It is also in line with the organization's efforts to help officials of member countries develop the skills and mechanisms required to conduct negotiations. This cooperation effort is the first of its kind between the OECD and a non member state.

In the first regional dialogue hosted by the UAE to deal with the main issues facing negotiators while signing tax treaties, the OECD workshop aims to gather regional, OECD and UAE expertise. The workshop is in line with efforts exerted to share experiences and analysis of major political issues facing the negotiators of tax treaties. The UAE is the 25th country in the world in terms of the number of agreements signed. It is the first regional center selected by the OECD to train negotiators from the countries of the region. Under the memorandum of understanding signed between the UAE and the OECD in Paris on 23/9/2010 for the period 2010 - 2012, this initiative has been expanded to countries outside of the region. The ministry will also host the first seminar in this three-year program on 21-25/11/2010. Negotiators from European, Central Asian and MENA countries have been invited to this seminar.

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© Press Release 2010