Ohood Bint Khalfan Al Roumi, Minister of State for Government Development and the Future, stated that the UAE government is committed to promoting partnerships with global governments to share their experience in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic, achieving sustainable economic recovery, and developing a state-of-the-art healthcare system.

This embodies the vision of the UAE leadership, which encourages the sharing of knowledge and exchanging successful government experiences and proactive methodologies to benefit societies.

This was stated during the ministerial online session held between the governments of the UAE and the Republic of Costa Rica, attended by María Del Pilar Garrido, Minister of National Planning and Economic Policy of the Republic of Costa Rica, within the scope of the strategic partnership between the two countries on government development.

Al Roumi said, “The UAE government believes that addressing the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts on various vital sectors requires effective international cooperation, sharing successful government experiences, and providing proactive plans to define priorities, referring to UAE’s advanced government model, proactive strategies and agile planning in redefining future national priorities.”

She further noted the importance of the meeting in enhancing the strategic partnership between the UAE and the Republic of Costa Rica to develop government systems in line with its requirements and praised the efforts of the joint working groups in developing innovative solutions and ideas to serve the two communities.

María Del Pilar Garrido asserted Costa Rica’s keenness to enhance cooperation with the UAE and benefit from its successful model. She highlighted the fact that her government is building its capabilities and enhancing its administrative system by applying the cutting-edge model.

The session was attended by Mohammed Ahmed Al Shehhi, Under-Secretary for Economic Affairs at the Ministry of Economy, Dr. Hussein Abdul Rahman Al Rand, Assistant Under-Secretary for Health Centres and Clinics Sector at the Ministry of Health and Prevention, Dr. Saif Jumaa Al Dhaheri, Director of Safety and Prevention at the National Emergency, Crisis and Disasters Management Authority, NCEMA. The session also hosted an array of prominent experts and government officials from the UAE and Costa Rica.

Al Shehhi reviewed the UAE’s response plan to stimulate the economy and drive rapid growth in the short and long term. The short-term plan included launching incentive packages to support the most affected economic sectors.

The long-term programmes and plans, on the other hand, promote the flexibility and sustainability of the economic model in the UAE by encouraging investments in sectors with possibilities while focusing on the SMEs.

The session also discussed UAE’s various achievements and health initiatives launched in line with global best practices to assess health risk, adopt preventive measures to curb the spread of the virus and protect the community. These measures included launching the national sterilisation programme and conducting more than six million tests to intensify the coronavirus detection. The UAE government’s innovative initiatives also included the Drive-through National Screening Centres for COVID-19.

The session outlined the Travel Protocol launched by the UAE National Emergency, Crisis and Disasters Management Authority, NCEMA, to regulate travel procedures for residents and citizens who wish to travel to select destinations.

Among the preventive measures is registering in “Twajudi” service to facilitate communication with travellers, conducting COVID-19 tests, and using the “Al-Hosn” application to monitor their health.

During the 7th edition of World Government Summit, the UAE signed a memorandum of understanding with the Republic of Costa Rica on government development and modernisation to exchange experiences, develop government services, build capacities and improve government performance.