As part of its ongoing efforts to enhance financial systems, global competitiveness of the United Arab Emirates, and to adhere to the updated requirements of the IMF’s Government Finance Statistics Manual, the Ministry of Finance launched the upgraded version of the Emirates Gate system for government financial statistics reports.

Founded in 2012, the updated system is part of the recommendations of the Government Financial Policy Coordination Council, which is chaired by Younis Haji Al Khoori, Undersecretary of MoF, Chairman of the Government Financial Policy Coordination Council, and board members from UAE governments and the Emirates Central Bank.

Saeed Rashid Al-Yateem, Assistant Undersecretary of the Ministry of Resources and Budget, highlighted the importance of cooperation between the Ministry of Finance and all financial departments in the Emirates to develop an intelligent system for Emirates Gate for government financial statistics reports. The system links all the Emirates’ financial departments with the electronic financial system of the Ministry of Finance through artificial intelligence.

He said: “The Ministry of Finance takes proactive steps to keep pace with the digital revolution. We develop financial reporting systems to enhance transparency and make government financial statistics data available to decision-makers and financial-policy makers in the country. This enables them to devise the necessary programs and policies within the framework of the country’s financial and economic policy.”

He added: “The ministry has an innovative set of cutting-edge smart financial services and initiatives, which makes it one of the world’s leading government agencies in providing smart financial services.”

The UAE Gate for GFS Reports system relies on AI to collect, process and prepare statistical data and reports in accordance with IMF standards, as well as the approved international financial and accounting standards. The aim is to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of collection, preparation and publication of the state’s financial reports through a unified national electronic financial database, which includes the integration of financial information across various sectors to provide accurate data.

The government financial database enables decision-makers to formulate sound financial plans and make appropriate decisions within the framework of the government’s financial and economic policies. It also enables the UAE to fulfil its obligations to international organisations such as the International Monetary Fund among others. Furthermore, it bolsters the data system to enhance the nation’s competitive indicators at the international level. This also enables analysts and data users to study the developments in the government’s financial operations, and to determine the proportion of government spending according to government jobs.

The system uses the latest technology, which enables the ministry to ascertain the efficiency of the data delivery process in line with international best practices on information and systems security.

Government financial statistics are of local and international importance, as they clarify the size of government financial operations within the state, along with government-sector contribution to the national economy.

Additionally, it identifies the allocation of government resources for multiple purposes, and is considered an essential element for sound financial analysis, thus underscoring its vital role in developing financial programs to oversee economic policies.

In line with the UAE’s smart government strategy, and its continuous efforts to develop all e-systems across government entities, the Ministry of Finance (MoF), also in cooperation with the Federal Authority for Government Human Resources, launched recently the smart system for job budgets.

The system is considered to be the first of its kind in the region, and includes features and services that link the job budget and enables the automatic calculation of the savings, which provides an optimal solution that saves time and effort and eliminates paper transactions.

Saeed Rashid Al Yateem, Assistant Undersecretary of Resource and Budget Sector, stressed the importance of the smart system for amending job budgets as a step to advance the preparation, implementation and automation of budget projects in accordance with global best practices. The system employs the latest technologies in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning applications to ensure the integrity of the financial system.

Agencies