As part of an ongoing effort to enhance the teamwork spirit and to broaden participation in making and implementing the decisions and strategic trends, Dubai Customs’ Senior Management has held the expanded annual meeting of 2016 with the heads of departments, sections, and customs centers. H.E. Ahmed Mahboob Musabih, Director of Dubai Customs, chaired the meeting, which was held in the presence and participation of executive directors. During the meeting, DC’s major plans and strategic trends in 2016 were highlighted. The meeting also called on DC staff to participate actively in the development and implementation of such plans and trends, in line with the directives of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to make the public happy, by providing advanced smart government services.
The meeting was attended by Mr. Juma Al Ghaith, Executive Director of the Customs Development Division, Abdullah Mohammad Al Khaja, DC’s Executive Director of Customer Management Division, Saeed Ahmad Al Tayer, Executive Director of Policies and Legislation Division, Ahmed Obaid Al Falasi, DC’s Director of HR, Finance & Administration Division, and Ahmed Abdullah bin Lahej, DC’s Director of Passenger Operations.
H.E. Ahmed Mahboob Musabih, Director of DC, extended his gratitude to all DC employees for their valuable contributions to the achievements accomplished in 2015. He stressed that everyone is invited to take part in the decision making process by engaging in the initiatives and projects launched by DC to envisage its vision and strategic goals.
He said: “In the forefront of our priorities in the next stage is the development of our human resources through raising the efficiency of our teamwork to improve the performance and output. In this regard, DC, in collaboration with Dubai University, is currently offering academic courses to help the employees obtain a diploma or bachelor’s degree in the field of logistics and customs work, in order to have future customs officers, who combine academic qualification and technical experience."
Speaking about Dubai Expo 2020, His Excellency said: “DC is working hard to provide the best services and customs facilities for the participants, as well as the anticipated 25 million visitors who will flock to the exhibition over its 6-month duration. We have already launched a number of pioneering initiatives to please the participants, the most important of which are the Authorized Economic Operator (AEO), Virtual Corridor, and Smart Employee.”
H.E. revealed during the meeting a new award dedicated for making the clients happy, starting from January 2016. He added that the award would be given to the department or customs center that achieves the highest daily standards of clients’ happiness, according to the clients’ assessment, in order to motivate the staff to double their efforts to provide the best services and facilities that achieve customer happiness.
Mr. Juma Al Ghaith, Executive Director of the Customs Development Division, spoke about future projects and development plans within DC. He said: “A total of 30 initiatives and projects have been launched in a two-year time, a number of which was accomplished while others are still underway.” He added that 2016 would witness the implementation of the “Smart Work Space,” a creative project that would minimize the time consumed to submit applications to less than five minutes. He also said that a smart application will be launched for passengers to help them declare and clear dutiable possessions before arriving to Dubai. The “Smart Glasses” will be developed in a manner that would help customs inspectors while conducting inspection by providing all needed information on the smart glasses worn by the inspectors, so as they no longer need to hold papers in their hands while doing the inspection.
Mr. Abdullah Mohammed Al-Khaja, DC’s Executive Director of Customer Management Division, said that according to the “Happiness Meter,” which came into force in the beginning of 2015, the customers happiness with the level of customs services offered to them in all customer service centres was about 93%. He said that the targeted ratio during 2016 was 98%. As for strategic partners, he said that rate of their satisfaction is 91%.
Mr. Al Khaja added that smart applications for the services offered by DC had demonstrated great efficiency, revealing that the number of clients visiting DC’s Head Office in 2015 had declined by half, compared to 2014. He said that the Head Office received 24 thousand clients during 2015, while in 2014 the number was 43,466 visitors.
Saeed Ahmad Al Tayer, Executive Director of Policies and Legislation Division, urged DC employees to share new ideas and initiatives, reiterating the importance of brainstorming sessions organized by different divisions and departments, and their role in generating new ideas and innovations, which would later turn into initiatives and projects that support the development of customs business in Dubai.
Mr. Ahmed Al Falasi highlighted that Dubai Customs kicked off many employee-oriented initiatives in 2015. These included Employee Bag, Job Satisfaction Cup, Your Children Are Our Children, among others. “As many as 374 training programs will be carried out in 2016, targeting 5974 trainees,” Al Falasi added.