Under the directives of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council, Dubai today hosted the signing of the Declaration of Principles of the Global Excellence Council. Dubai is now the first city in the Middle East to host a meeting of the Global Excellence Council.

The Global Excellence Council, which includes 12 founding members from five continents, aims to define and promote a culture of excellence to improve the efficiency and competitiveness of organisations across the globe. The signing is in line with the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, to establish a culture of excellence in government. It reflects the directives of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan to provide an organised institutional framework for government development globally.

The signing of the Declaration included  Abdulla Mohammed Al Basti, Secretary General of the Executive Council of Dubai, and Chairman of the Dubai Government Excellence Program.  The founding members of the Global Excellence Council, representing the African Excellence Forum; Business Excellence Australia; Baldrige Performance Excellence Program; USA; China Association for Quality; Confederation of Indian Industry; Dubai Government Excellence Program; European Foundation for Quality Management; Instituto para el Fomento à la Calidad Total, Mexico; Japan Quality Award; Malaysia Productivity Corporation; FUNDIBEQ, Iberian peninsula and Latin America; and Fundação Nacional da Qualidade, Brazil also attended.

The first initiative of its kind, the Council will work to conduct joint events and activities in the field of quality and performance excellence in cooperation with international partners. It will also highlight international best practices in the management of quality and excellence accreditation, evaluate the most effective management practices, consolidate the foundations and principles of excellence, and stimulate the adoption of excellence models.

“The signing of the Declaration is in line with the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to establish a culture of excellence in government and institutional work,” said Al Basti. “It also forms part of implementing the directives of Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai. These directives are to provide an organised institutional framework for government development globally, to promote excellence and ensure high-quality service delivery. This announcement constitutes a promising new phase of joint international actions to recognise and amplify the world’s leading practices and experiences in the field of government excellence starting with those demonstrated by Dubai.”

Dubai, he added, has created a global model for government excellence over the past 25 years, and its success is “establishing new international benchmarks. Today, it is sharing best practices in the field of excellence through the Dubai Government Excellence Program, thanks to the leadership’s clear strategic vision to enhance quality in all fields.”