Director General of the Institute of Public Administration and Chairman of the board of directors for the Master’s Program in Public Administration (MPM) H.E. Dr. Raed Mohammed BenShams has declared that next August is the date for receiving nominations of second batch candidates for the program. The announcement was made during His Excellency’s presiding over the first meeting of the Board of directors in the presence of board members: Dr. Fabrice Larat, Director of master's and research programs and Deputy Director for training at the National School of Administration in France, Dr. Solange Hernandez, representing Aix-Marseille University Prof. Robert Fuchet, Prof. Dr. Minwir Mallouh Al-Shammari Dean of Business Administration College at the University of Bahrain, Dr. Abdullah Al Sada, Coordinator of Government Relations and Affairs at TAMKEEN , and Dr. Sofiane Sahraoui Senior Advisor at the Institute of Public Administration, Secretary General of the program. BenShams stated that “the Institute of Public Administration inaugurated the first batch of the program last February, out of the Institute’s profound belief in the importance of scientific research in the development of the public administration system for the region, in order to attain the highest levels of quality and excellence in the delivery of government services meeting the developmental aspirations of the Kingdom of Bahrain. The program is offered based on a supportive methodology aimed at rehabilitating and qualifying of government leaderships capable of decision-making and policy-building. The program is considered an inseparable part of the national program for the preparation and development of government leaderships offered by the Institute of Public Administration, which covers in its content the scope of the GCC countries in addressing administrative issues by building future leaders’ capabilities. Bin Shams stressed the importance of the Master’s Program in Public Administration in improving outcomes of government work, adding that the program is offered by an elite of most famous academics and specialists in public administration sciences, which significantly contributes to the exchange of international best practices considering the profound experience of the faculty which include Prof. Dr. Geert Bouckaert, President of the International Institute for administrative Sciences (IIAS), and Dr. Robert Fuchet Director General of the Institute of Public Administration and Regional Governance at Aix-Marseille University in France, and Dr. Fabrice Larat, Research Director at the National School of Administration (ENA), along with a group of distinguished local academics. BenShams added that 83 compliant applications were received for the first batch of the program, out of which 25 participants were selected after completing the interview procedures. H.E. also noted that the selection process of participants was conducted by a scientific committee of experts in public administration science from a number of entities i.e. the Institute of Public Administration, the University of Aix- Marseille and the French National School of Administration.