His Excellency Dr. Raed Mohammed Bin Shams, Director-General of Bahrain Institute of Public Administration (BIPA), stated that Bahrain’s chairmanship, represented by BIPA, of the International Institute of Administrative Sciences (IIAS), the largest and oldest international organization for public administration, is in line with the comprehensive and ambitious vision of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, for Bahrain to continue its progress on global competitiveness and achieve the aspirations of the country and its people. This will be accomplished through sustainable development in the various sectors, improving the quality of the services provided for the citizens, and increasing the efficiency of the resources available for the next generations.
Bin Shams pointed out that since its inception, BIPA has adopted a clear administrative approach to upgrade the governmental work system in the Kingdom of Bahrain and raise the level of efficiency of the services provided to citizens in addition to drawing a clear line to upgrade the administrative work system at a regional level and proceeding with BIPA’s ambition to place Bahrain on a prominent global position in the field of administration. “BIPA was able to cover all dimensions of public administration, including management, governance and public policies, in its plans and strategies, he added. Planning of the competitive landscape in administration to reach this international status was among the most significant efforts in this field. These included establishment of the Middle East and North Africa Public Administration Research (MENAPAR), the region’s first administrative network, engaging in international and regional partnerships with more than 50 countries, bodies, organizations and administrative groups, and the promotion of public administration sciences through the adoption of the first academic professional program in the field of public administration, namely the Master of Public Administration program, in addition to public gatherings, roundtable discussions and other events on administration. “This has helped us transform from consumers of research and studies to sources of global networking that contributed to enriching the administrative thinking” Dr. Bin Shams said.
Dr. Bin Shams added that the Institute of Public Administration will continue to adapt its plans and strategies to maintain Bahrain’s leadership in global competitiveness indicators in the field of public administration, in line with the Bahrain government agenda. The institute is part of the government team. Efforts must be jointly made to keep pace with positive developments and launch administrative initiatives aimed at achieving sustainability and improving performance through adopting innovation. “This will enable us to continue our progress and leadership at the local, regional and international levels”, he explained.
The International Institute of Administrative Sciences (IIAS) was founded in 1930, and its branches and activities cover Europe, Asia, the North and South Americas and Australia. Its membership includes states, government agencies, academic institutions, individuals and civil society institutions. The President of the Institute also has an advisory seat at the United Nations Economic and Social Council (UN ECOSOC).