His Excellency Saeed Abdul Jalil Al Fahim, Chairman of the Higher Committee of Sheikh Khalifa Excellence Award (SKEA), has announced the commencement of the 20th cycle of SKEA 2021-2022, which will be held completely using virtual technologies, pointing out that a new category has been added to this years edition namely the “Elite category”.

The new addition will give the opportunity for internationally renowned companies to join the award and cement their credibility regionally and internationally.

This came during a press conference held by SKEA office, a subsidiary to Abu Dhabi Chamber, at the Chamber’s tower in Abu Dhabi and attended by the members of the Higher Committee Their Excellency Mohamed Salem Al Dhaheri, Rashid Al Blouchi and Mohamed Helal Al Mheiri, as well as Prof. Hadi Al Tijani, General Coordinator of SKEA.

At the beginning of the conference, Al Fahim said that the 19th cycle of the award was exceptional on all levels since it was launched during the COVID-19 pandemic, which made dynamic changes in our lifestyle and posed many health and social precautionary measures.

“The higher committee, supported by SKEA Office and the related departments at the Chamber, demonstrated swift response to the pandemic through digital transformation by conducting all its orientation seminars, workshops and training courses virtually online,” he said, pointing out that there were unprecedented number of companies applying for the award.

“The new cycle of SKEA 2021-2022 will continue its offerings through communications platforms virtually until further notice,” he added, saying that SKEA Office is seeking to develop a general framework for excellence by redefining the concept of excellence.

He added that the deadline for registration is 31 October 2021; whereas the deadline for submitting the participation applications is 30 November 2021, noting that the evaluation and field visits will commence in December 2021 until January 2022.

In his speech, Al Fahim emphasized that the award is not a mere competitive framework in which few companies win for the others to lose, but a complete program aims to give all participants a clear and enlightening picture about themselves through the “Mirror of Excellence” and pinpoint their points of strength to solidify and develop them accordingly.

He added that the award in its twentieth cycle achieved exponential growth horizontally to include businesses from the UAE and the GCC, noting that the strategic objectives of excellence programs are represented in three key axes: developing the human resources; developing work systems and programs that increase efficiency and effectivity; and realizing the best financial and operational targets.
Concluding his remarks, Al Fahim expressed his utmost thanks and appreciation to His Highness President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan for his support and encouragement to all those who oversee the award, which bears his name. 

He also extended his thanks and appreciation to His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, for his follow up to the activities of the award, and for the Abu Dhabi Chamber for supporting the Higher Committee of SKEA, and for all the assessors and the panel for their key role in assessing the participating companies.