Under the patronage of His Excellency Sheikh Al Fadhl bin Mohammad Al Harthy, Secretary General of the Council of Ministries, the Public Policy & Strategic Planning Programme concluded on 17th May 2023. The programme focused on empowering national leaders to devise, formulate, and implement public policies and strategic planning to achieve national competitiveness. The programme consisted of two pathways, one for Their Excellencies the Undersecretaries, and one for the Directors General, and their equivalents, in the state’s managerial apparatus.
H.E. Dr. Ali Qassim Al Lawati, President of the Royal Academy of Management, explained that the Public Policy & Strategic Planning Programme followed the directives of His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik to enable national leaders to devise public policies and strategic plans. This will boost Oman’s economy and enhance its competitiveness, in order to build an innovative and future-ready managerial apparatus.
He added that the participants learned about global trends and the latest strategic thinking and planning developments focused on devising and formulating public policies and the tools to implement them. This gave them the skills to develop and implement public policies based on a rigorous, scientific approach. They also analysed and developed strategies to achieve public policy objectives and to translate national strategies into executive action plans that promote cooperation between the branches of the state’s managerial apparatus.
The programme featured several field visits to experience best international practices in formulating and implementing public policies and strategic planning and designing projects and mechanisms to overcome challenges.
The first pathway of the programme targeted 24 participants from Their Excellencies the Undersecretaries and their equivalents in the government sector and focused on global and regional developments in strategic thinking and planning, formulating and developing public policies. They also learned about best practices in policy review and attended a workshop on future thinking and foresight. They examined the competitiveness of Oman and methods to support a culture of collaboration across ministries to achieve the objectives of Oman Vision 2040.
The second pathway of the programme targeted 34 participants from the Directors General and their equivalents in the government sector. It involved 9 executive learning units that focused on modern global trends in the fields of formulating public policies and the challenges of implementation. It concentrated on translating strategic plans into operational plans, and analysing competitiveness indicators. There was also an educational field visit to Singapore and the opportunity to present applied projects.
The programme was implemented in partnership with the Civil Service College, the central learning institution for Singapore Public Service as well as the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, part of the National University of Singapore, Asia’s top university, and the International Institute for Management Development Switzerland, one of the world’s most prestigious institutes in economics and management.
The Royal Academy of Management has been blessed by the honorary patronage of His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik since its establishment in January 2022. It aims to develop national leaders at various levels of management in the public and private sectors through an integrated suite of initiatives and programmes based on the latest trends in new public management.
