DUBAI
- The University of Dubai (UoD) consolidated its excellent results and achieved
an outstanding score in conforming
to the requirements of theMSI 20000 certification, awarded with the technical support of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh & Co.
Consulting (TAG-Consult), a member of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Global (TAG.Global).

The
University achieved this score, even exceeding
its initial score of 161 points out of 200, which was already more than 60% of
the requirements of the standard.

The
UoD was awarded the MSI 20000 certification at the end of 2020 to become the
first educational institution in the region to obtain the financial quality certificate,
which is the international standard allocated to the financial quality of
companies based on the results of the first surveillance audit.

The
certificate was awarded by the French certification body COFICERT, with the
technical support of TAG-Consult, the exclusive agent of the COFICERT in the
Middle East.

The
standard is a comprehensive measurement and evaluation model of financial
performance that is based on benchmarking in the business sector, and it
focuses on two main aspects; the financial solidity and financial performance.

Out
of the 60 global performance indicators, the
UoD was evaluated on its financial governance, where it exceeded its previous
results in nearly all of them. Despite the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19)
pandemic, which had a major impact on the global economy; these outstanding
results confirm once more the
firmness and the solidity of the UoD, as well as, its continued growth achieved
during the last six years. 

It
is worth mentioning that the results of the MSI 20000 evaluation report show
that the UoD has achieved excellent rates in the results of benchmark
comparisons in the university sector, which include the best leading
international universities, such as “Oxford, Amsterdam, and Quebec, in addition
to the University of London, Paris School of Business, and others. The UoD has
even outperformed these institutions financially on several criteria.

President
of UoD, Dr. Eesa Al-Bastaki, pointed out that the certification had
consolidated the UoD’s efforts in developing and supporting its financial
strategies, proving once again the University’s commitment to continuous
improvement of the financial position and the development of its risk
management.

He
added that the financial quality is part of the overall quality of any
institution that aims to succeed and make progress in several areas, stating
that successful institutions and companies competed with each other to
implement international standards that secure financial sustainability, based
on the quality of services and products they provided in global markets.

Dr.
Bastaki also said that the UoD took this challenge, despite the repercussions
of the COVID-19 pandemic, as the new results proved to the world and to the
relevant parties the strength of the University’s financial governance and its
successful strategy in managing the crisis.

For
his part, HE Dr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, founder and chairman of TAG.Global,
expressed his pride in this global achievement made by the UoD in consolidating
the MSI 20000 certification. He pointed out that the University proved to the
world the extent of the Arab institutions' commitment to the global best
practices, as well as their keenness on maintaining quality financial
performance, financial governance, disclosure and transparency.

Furthermore,
Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh stated that the MSI 20000 certification is handled by
TAG-Consult; being the exclusive professional partner of COFICERT.

University of Dubai (UoD)

Located
in Dubai’s Academic City, the UoD is one of the institutions affiliated with
the Dubai Chamber. It aims at supporting the UAE’s government initiative to
qualify its citizens through human resources development programs in both the
private and public sectors. The UoD adopts university curricula that satisfy
the highest local and international educational standards approved in the UAE
and the USA.

Talal Abu-Ghazaleh & Co. Consulting (TAG-Consult)

TAG-Consult
operates out of the Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Global offices, which has more than 100
offices in the Middle East, Africa, and the world and representative offices
spread in Asia, Europe, North America, and Latin America. It also operates
through a network of experts and specialists to offer the best management
consulting services to local and international companies and institutions, in
accordance with the best practices in this field.

COFICERT

COFICERT is the first specialized and
specifically dedicated body to the certification of the financial and
extra-financial standards in the world. The organization gathers national and
international experts around standards and certification marks, related to
Finance: such as financial governance, anti-money laundry, counter financing of
terrorism, corporate social responsibility. COFICERT is the contraction of the
following terms: “COMMISSION FOR FINANCIAL CERTIFICATIONS”. 

MSI 20000 Standard

The standard focuses
on evaluating all the data related to financial affairs and companies’
management through a sectoral approach and strict principles, based on many
evaluation criteria and performance indicators utilizing benchmarking. The
standard was developed by the French, non-governmental organization MSI
Observatory, by leading experts in the field of finance. It was then tested and
adapted over several years. It was first launched in 2008, during the global
economic crisis.