Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, on Thursday set out wide-reaching plans to combat government bureaucracy and boost efficiency across the Emirates.
Sheikh Mohammed, also Vice President, said government departments would work to eliminate 2,000 unnecessary procedures within a year as part of the strategy.
They were also tasked with halving the time taken to carry out services, under the Zero Government Bureaucracy programme, which was unveiled in November.
Bonuses of up to Dh1 million ($272,000) will be awarded to the employee or work teams who perform best in raising standards.
“In the presence of 30 federal entities, we launched a new programme to streamline government bureaucracy, where government entities will work to eliminate 2,000 government procedures within a year, reduce the duration of government services by 50 per cent, and re-engineer hundreds of government services,” Sheikh Mohammed announced on X.
“We have provided incentives for the working teams who reduce their procedures and announced motivational bonuses of up to one million dirhams for the employee or the working team that excels in reducing and eliminating unnecessary procedures.
“Our goal is to facilitate people's lives, provide people with the comfort and service they deserve in the UAE, and aim to be the best government in the world in providing services.”
Driving up standards
Sheikh Mohammed has long championed efforts to increase customer satisfaction in government services.
In May 2023, he revealed which government services are seen as the best and the worst in the UAE.
Sheikh Mohammed said on social media that the results were based on customer satisfaction ratings.
The issuing of passports and driving licences were rated as the best government services, with booking medical appointments and the attestation of education certificates viewed as the worst.
In November, Sheikh Mohammed replaced the director of Al Kalba Hospital after it was found to be one of the poorest-rated government services. The Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure service centre in Ras Al Khaimah also received a poor evaluation.
Sheikh Mohammed said the worst-performing services would be given 60 days to improve. If there was no improvement, employees at the centres would have their contracts terminated or modified.
“Interacting with the public in a positive way through service channels is a basic duty of every government official,” Sheikh Mohammed said at the time.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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