The UAE Ministry of Finance has held a workshop on financial coordination at a federal level as part of its efforts to raise standards of financial management, and enhance financial policy integration across different emirates.

The workshop was attended by Ahmed Al Abdouli, Head of the Government Finance Statistics Department, and representatives from the finance departments in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Umm Al Qaiwain, Fujairah and Ajman.

Saeed Rashid Al Yateem, Assistant Under-Secretary for Resources and Budget Sector, stressed the importance of achieving the highest level of coordination and integration with regards to financial policies on a federal and local levels, as these components are the foundations to achieve the strategic objectives of the UAE’s vision 2021, and the country’s sustainable development.

Al Yateem said, "Holding similar workshops are considered a significant platform to discuss and evaluate the latest findings and developments with regards to preparing financial statements."

He added, "The Ministry of Finance continues its efforts to implement the highest standards for effective governance and sound financial management, through efficient cooperation with stakeholders. This ensures integrated balance sheet and provides financial and statistical data in an accurate manner."

The workshop covered several elements including the different stages involved in preparing a balance sheet, the GFS report, in addition to discussions held with the World Bank on the financial coordination project for the health and education, as well as the outcomes of the Article IV Consultation Mission meeting.

The Ministry of Finance highlighted the latest finding on the collection of data on government finance statistics, e-linking UAE Gate for GFS reports with all UAE federal and local government financial systems, developments on the classification of the functions of the government expenses, COFOG, 2017-2021.