The Emirates Group and Roads and Transport Authority have today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate and share best practices that enhance and create greater efficiencies across all asset management related activities for both organisations.

Mutual cooperation and open exchange between the Emirates Group and Roads and Transport Authority includes knowledge sharing in areas of asset sustainability, optimising asset lifecycle utilisation and enhancing returns on assets.

The MoU was signed by Ali Mubarak Al Soori, Executive Vice President Chairman’s Office, Facilities & Project Management and Non-Aircraft Procurement & Logistics for Emirates Group, and Mr. Nasir Bu Shehab, CEO, Strategy and Corporate Governance Sector, RTA.

Commenting on the MoU signing, Ali Mubarak Al Soori, said: “Effective asset management is an important part of every organisation’s operations, financial positioning and overall growth. We look forward to strengthening ties with Roads and Transport Authority and developing a constructive and collaborative relationship through today’s agreement. Emirates Group has world-class expertise and capabilities in asset management through our local and global footprint, and we hope to further our cooperation with the RTA on matters of mutual interest in the areas of training, benchmarking tools, and frameworks within internationally recognised standards to extract the greatest value possible from our assets.”

This agreement follows the Dubai government’s directive for government entities to leverage the expertise and efficiencies of semi-government and private organizations. Today’s agreement will also support the Government Resource Planning Systems (GRPS), which has been implemented across different governmental departments to boost resources and knowledge, as well as consolidate best practices and policies that provide greater operating efficiencies.

The Emirates Group is the first non-government organisation to pen a partnership under the GRPS directive, and the collaboration with RTA will provide both organisations and their employees with shared knowledge, systems and frameworks in order to streamline operations, extract efficiencies and reduce costs.

“Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) is keen on building relationships and sharing knowledge with various government and non-government organisations in line with the government directives. We strive to achieve the sustainability of RTA’s key assets to ensure the continuity of service delivery. This is particularly relevant as RTA owns extensive assets and properties such as roads, bridges, tunnels, metro, buses, taxis, and marine transport means among others,” said Nasser Bu Shehab, CEO of Strategy and Corporate Governance Sector, RTA.

“We have charted out plans for the sustainability and protection of our assets for several years. We believe that cooperating with Emirates Group will enrich the experience of both parties and improve corporate performance as well. Assets are considered the true capital of the economic sector. We have therefore got to keep assets protected & sustained, and improve their life cycles on a par with the top global standards. We will be in a better position to achieve these targets through acquaintance with the practices of our counterparts in this regard,” added Bu Shehab.

Joint activities between both organisations are slated to commence this month.