Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and TAGITI sign MoU for Execution of Comprehensive, Mechanized Plan

We hope that our cooperation will be a starting point for partnership and integration between the private and public sectors - Salloukh

The project will serve the country and electronically link it with 87 of its embassies worldwide ? Abu-Ghazaleh

BEIRUT  Feb. 26, 2008  As part of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Information Technology International?s (TAGITI) mission to provide electronic professional services in Lebanon, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed with the Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants today at the Ministrys premises related to the restructuring of the Ministrys procedures, its communication with its diplomatic missions and consulates as well as the application of a Document Management System (DMS) and electronic control systems.

The MoU includes studying administrative and financial procedures and their oversight, in addition to the institutional management system regarding resources and the e-government portal.

The MoU was signed between outgoing Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants, HE Mr. Fawzi Salloukh, and Chairman of the Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization (TAGorg), Mr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh. It comes within the framework of a comprehensive plan prepared by the Office of the Minister of State for Administrative Reform (OMSAR) in coordination with the relevant ministries and the Prime Ministers Office.

From the Lebanese side, the ceremony was attended by Ambassador Bassam Al-Nomani, Deputy Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants, Ambassador George Siam, Director of Protocol, Ambassador Noel Fattal, Director of Legal Consultations in addition to an OMSAR delegation.

Following the signing, Minister Salloukh delivered a speech where he hoped that the cooperation "will be a starting point for partnership and integration between the private and public sectors through which official administrations and citizens can benefit from the private sector?s experiences and activities."

The Minister added that the agreement is "an acknowledgement on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants on the importance of developing its financial, administrative and other related procedures and modernizing its systems and internal communication network which includes its electronic linking with its missions abroad," pointing out that the Ministry, in cooperation with OMSAR, has studied these issues seriously in previous years.

He noted that the "previous negotiations and studies have culminated in this signed MoU with TAGITI," adding that "TAGITI will draw and execute a comprehensive and mechanized plan for all the procedures and activities between the Ministry and our diplomatic mission abroad through the development of an effective mechanism linked to a central system."

"The activities will include business accounting, administrative transactions, administrative and financial systems, e-Visa, and the Ministrys transactions with the General Directorate for Public Security," he added, stating that this is a pilot project in what?s known today as the era of mechanization and communications for e-governments.

On his part, Abu-Ghazaleh said: "I would like to take this opportunity to firstly thank H.E. Minister Salloukh and his Ministry for the arrangements and preparations undergone for this meeting and signing ceremony. We also owe thanks to OMSAR, which has accompanied us from the beginning to prepare for this agreement under the guidance of H.E. Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, who has shown and continues to show great interest in this project considering it a part of the comprehensive e-government plan prepared by the Ministry of Administrative Development for Lebanon."

He added that the project essentially serves the citizen and works to facilitate procedures for his/her sake and for the sake of state visitors, noting that the e-government system aims to achieve two main goals: facilitating procedures and achieving the highest level of transparency.

"Therefore through this project we are serving each of the state and citizen and are honored to have been granted this opportunity and thank the concerned ministries that cooperated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants on this venture. In addition to OMSAR, appreciation goes out to the Ministry of Finance, which has shown interest and support to this project."

Abu-Ghazaleh considered this project a clear sign on the vitality and civilization of Lebanon, its adherence to the best of procedures possible and insistence on continuous enhancement and the sustainable development of procedures in what befits its civilization, history and youth who have proven their talent in all fields across the years.

In response to a question over the funding of the project, Minister Salloukh said: "There are financial institutions that help cover the expenses for these types of enterprises. My brother Talal Abu-Ghazaleh has taken upon himself to cover the responsibility to manage the funding of this project."

Abu-Ghazaleh added: "In other words the venture will be self-funded and independent and will not be a burden on the state budget, but will receive its funding from institutions that support such undertakings serving the country and its relations with others since it is a project that concerns the international community. Therefore there will be no financial burden on the state and no request to allocate a specific budget to it but we will cooperate with Minster Salloukh and the government to secure the necessary funding."

On the project?s cost, Abu-Ghazaleh explained that work on it will proceed following the signing of the agreement and will include the preparation of a comprehensive study on its requirements. This in turn requires a field study on all embassies and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to identify firstly the systems in need of changing, the electronic systems that need to be purchased and the infrastructure of the systems that need to be secured based on which comprehensive estimations for the projects expenses will be made.

In response to a question on the time limit to prepare for this study, Abu-Ghazaleh remarked: "The time is up to the State. We kindly request the state to speed up procedures and I am confident of Minister Salloukhs enthusiasm since the idea behind the project began with my encounter with HE Siniora on the 28th of January, who expressed his deep enthusiasm towards it."

Meanwhile, Minister Salloukh assured that employees working in diplomatic missions and consulates will receive the necessary training.