(Seychelles News Agency) - Seychelles has signed an agreement with the United Arab Emirates to modernise and transform its public service, the finance ministry said on Wednesday.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed by Seychellois Minister of Investment, Entrepreneurship and Industry, Devika Vidot and Mohammad Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs of the UAE. The signing ceremony took place in Dubai on March 29 on the sidelines of the World Government Summit 2022.

Through the MOU, which will cover a three-year period, joint action will be taken to boost institutional capacities and government practices, while enhancing governance.

Seychelles, an archipelago in the western Indian Ocean, will cooperate with the UAE to improve and develop government activities and practices. This will be done through exchanging knowledge, experience, best practices and benefit from their mutual expertise, according to the finance ministry.

In order to ensure the successful implementation of the provisions of the MOU, a joint technical team will be set up.

The signing of the MOU has been welcomed by Seychelles' finance minister Naadir Hassan, who is also the chairman of the result-based management national steering committee.

"The government of Seychelles welcomes the signing of this MoU, which comes at an opportune time, as it is embracing the result-based approach to service delivery in the public service," said Hassan.

Hassan said that "with the well-established high standard public service system and delivery, already in place in the United Arab Emirates, the MOU will enable the sharing of knowledge, experience and standards, which will further enhance the implementation of our result-based management framework and digitalisation of the public service."

A result-based management (RBM) framework was launched in March to ensure that processes, products and services contribute to the achievement of desired results.

At the launching of the framework, Hassan said that RBM is the tool that will bring about the transformation that "our public service needs in order to bring about the development that our country requires to survive in the current socio-economic environment."

Seychelles has been implementing a result-based management policy in various phases since July 2013.

In August last year, the Cabinet of Ministers approved for RBM to be implemented across the board in government.