State-Owned Enterprise Governance Reform and Fiscal Risk Management in Dubai

Programme Overview

State-owned enterprises play a critical role in providing essential public services and driving national infrastructure development.⁣​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌⁣ However, weak corporate governance, inadequate oversight, and soft budget constraints can turn these entities into substantial sources of fiscal vulnerability. Governments require robust institutional systems to monitor commercial performance, manage quasi-fiscal operations, and limit contingent liabilities. This intensive four-day executive course in Dubai equips public officials with the technical instruments needed to overhaul public enterprise governance, enforce financial discipline, and safeguard macroeconomic stability.

Delegates examine global standards, including the OECD Guidelines on Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises and the IMF Fiscal Transparency Code. The syllabus covers the conversion of statutory boards into commercial entities, board professionalisation, and transparent financial reporting in accordance with International Public Sector Accounting Standards and IFRS. Officials explore mechanisms to separate line ministry policy roles from state ownership functions, ensuring that major utilities operate under transparent, arms-length commercial principles while delivering on their public service obligations.

Through applied casework, participants assess public utility balance sheets to detect hidden contingent risks, unbacked guarantees, and operational deficits. The course demonstrates how to draft enforceable Statements of Corporate Intent and design key performance indicators tailored to national utilities. Officials return home equipped with modern monitoring dashboards and fiscal stress-testing methods, enabling finance ministries and holding entities to systematically track portfolio risks and formulate credible restructuring plans backed by international development institutions.

Governments across South Asia, including Sri Lanka, are implementing profound structural adjustments to restore macroeconomic balance, with operations such as the Sri Lanka Second Resilience, Stability and Economic Turnaround Development Policy Operation directing attention toward public utility performance.⁣​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌⁣ Reforming state enterprises has become urgent to curtail unplanned treasury bailouts, manage sovereign exposure, and modernise public administration. Building institutional capacity to quantify fiscal risks, depoliticise utility boards, and enforce transparent commercial mandates is now essential to ensure sustainable utility service delivery and satisfy structural reform benchmarks.

Delivered by Risalat Consultants International in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, it combines expert-led sessions, real cases and group work, so that participants can apply what they learn in their own institution.

The Programme Strengthens Institutional Capability

• Principles of the OECD Guidelines on Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises
• Centralised versus decentralised state ownership models: institutional design and mandate clarity
• Separating the state's ownership role from policy formulation and market regulatory functions
• Board composition, nomination processes, and director fiduciary duties in commercial public enterprises
• Reviewing legal frameworks: transitioning statutory corporations into Companies Act entities
• Applying the IMF Fiscal Transparency Code to state-owned enterprise portfolio reporting
• Identifying and quantifying quasi-fiscal operations, uncompensated public service obligations, and cross-subsidies
• Assessing sovereign exposures: on-lending, sovereign guarantees, and off-balance-sheet debt accumulation
• Strategic thinking and direction setting
• Leading and developing teams
• Decision making and problem solving
• Communication and influence

It is designed for officials from the Department of Public Enterprises and state holding entities, macroeconomic and fiscal policy analysts within Ministries of Finance, board members and non-executive directors of major public utilities and others who want practical, current skills in leadership, management and communication.

The Growing Importance of State-Owned Enterprise Governance Reform and Fiscal Risk Management in Dubai

Institutions change faster than ever: new policies, technologies and expectations from citizens and partners. Leaders and managers who can set direction, build teams and manage change make the difference between plans and results.

Strong leadership is a set of practical skills: deciding, communicating, negotiating, developing people and leading change. These skills can be learnt and improved with practice and feedback.

Organisations increasingly require professionals capable of:

• Set clear direction and priorities
• Lead and motivate teams through change
• Communicate and negotiate effectively
• Manage performance fairly
• Make sound decisions under pressure

Strong leadership, management and communication systems help organisations:

• Turn strategies into results
• Build motivated, capable teams
• Manage change with less resistance
• Improve relations with partners and stakeholders

This State-Owned Enterprise Governance Reform and Fiscal Risk Management in Dubai programme brings these elements together in a practical format, so that participants understand not only what good practice looks like but also how to introduce it in their own setting, with the people and resources they have.

Who Should Attend This State-Owned Enterprise Governance Reform and Fiscal Risk Management in Dubai Training?

This programme is designed for:

• Officials from the Department of Public Enterprises and state holding entities
• Macroeconomic and fiscal policy analysts within Ministries of Finance
• Board members and non-executive directors of major public utilities
• Chief executive officers and financial controllers of state-owned entities
• Auditors and examiners from supreme audit institutions and public accounts committees
• Technical specialists and project coordinators working on donor-supported public sector reform programmes
• Planning ministry officers responsible for public investment and utility tariff policies
• Legal advisers responsible for drafting public enterprise statutory frameworks and corporate bylaws
• Directors and senior managers
• Heads of department and unit
• Middle managers and team leaders
• Project and programme managers

The programme suits experienced professionals as well as those moving into new responsibilities. Groups that mix institutions and countries are encouraged, because participants learn a great deal from each other’s experience.

State-Owned Enterprise Governance Reform and Fiscal Risk Management in Dubai Training Objectives

Upon successful completion of this State-Owned Enterprise Governance Reform and Fiscal Risk Management in Dubai Training, participants will be able to:

• Evaluate state-owned enterprise portfolios using the OECD Guidelines on Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises
• Quantify contingent liabilities, government guarantees, and quasi-fiscal activities to mitigate sovereign fiscal risks
• Structure balanced Statements of Corporate Intent that align utility mandates with national development strategies
• Develop performance-based contracts between state ownership authorities and utility management boards
• Design treasury monitoring dashboards to detect operational deficits, debt accumulation, and liquidity distress
• Establish clear institutional boundaries separating sector policymaking, commercial ownership, and regulatory functions
• Formulate bankable restructuring and commercialisation strategies for power, water, and transport enterprises
• Explain current approaches to leadership in public and private institutions
• Set direction and priorities for their team
• Lead, motivate and develop people

Each objective is practised during the programme through exercises, cases or group work, so that participants leave able to do it, not only to describe it.

Programme Contents and Structure

State-Owned Enterprise Governance Reform and Fiscal Risk Management in Dubai Training Methodology

The programme employs practical adult-learning methods focusing on applied public finance tools, institutional diagnostic scorecards, and hands-on laboratory exercises.⁣​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌⁣ Participants work with real balance sheets, draft performance contracts, and governance charters adapted from regional utility contexts. Peer-to-peer exchanges and syndicate working groups challenge delegates to resolve real-world reform bottlenecks, while structured simulation exercises enable public officials to design enforceable fiscal monitoring systems that conform to international standards.

The programme combines:

• Expert-led sessions on current practice
• Regional and international case studies
• Group work and practical exercises
• Simulations and role plays where relevant
• Discussion of participants' own challenges
• Peer learning across institutions and countries
• Practical tools and templates to take back to work
• Daily reflection and action planning

Before the programme, a short pre-assessment helps the facilitators understand each participant’s role and priorities, so that examples and exercises can be adjusted to the group. Each day ends with a short reflection in which participants note what they will apply at work.

Expected Outcomes

Upon completion of this State-Owned Enterprise Governance Reform and Fiscal Risk Management in Dubai Training, participants will be able to:

• Capacity to assess state ownership structures against established international corporate governance benchmarks
• Ability to calculate and report the fiscal costs of quasi-fiscal operations and contingent liabilities
• Competence in drafting legally binding Statements of Corporate Intent for state-owned commercial entities
• Skill in operating a financial monitoring matrix to track quarterly utility performance and solvency indicators
• Techniques to identify restructuring options for distressed public enterprises prior to treasury intervention
• Readiness to implement institutional reporting mechanisms that fulfill international donor reform milestones
• Set clear direction and priorities
• Lead and develop teams

Participants leave with a personal action plan and practical tools they can use in their institution from the first week back. Institutions that send several participants can use the programme to agree shared methods and templates across teams, which makes improvements easier to sustain.

Institutional Application of State-Owned Enterprise Governance Reform and Fiscal Risk Management in Dubai Training

This programme supports organisations in strengthening:

• Leadership and management
• Team development
• Change management
• Communication
• Performance management

Participants return with practical tools to improve:

• Team plans
• Coaching
• Change plans
• Stakeholder communication
• Performance reviews

The programme is built so that learning moves from the classroom into the institution. Participants work on their own processes and documents where possible, and leave with an action plan that their managers can review and support.

Regional Relevance & Application

Europe

European institutions apply leadership, management and communication within detailed regulatory frameworks and reform agendas. Participants from Europe can compare their practice with colleagues from other regions and test how established methods work under different conditions.

Africa

Across Africa, ministries, agencies and project teams working in leadership, management and communication increasingly operate alongside donor-financed programmes that expect clear systems and evidence. The programme helps participants adapt good practice to the institutions and resources they work with.

Middle East

In the Middle East, national development strategies and diversification plans place growing demands on leadership, management and communication. Participants explore how to build the capability these plans need inside public bodies and companies.

Asia

Institutions across Asia combine rapid growth with ambitious modernisation programmes. Participants from Asia can share their experience of scaling systems quickly and learn from approaches used elsewhere.

Pacific

Small island and Pacific states face particular constraints of size, distance and capacity. The programme highlights practical, proportionate approaches to leadership, management and communication that suit smaller institutions.

Holding the programme in Dubai, United Arab Emirates brings participants together away from their daily pressures, so they can compare how leadership, management and communication is handled in different settings. The same programme can also be delivered in-house for one institution, in its own country or online, with cases taken from its current work.

Host Country Profile – United Arab Emirates

Programmes, Workshops, Exposures, Training Courses in Dubai, UAE by Risalat Consultants International

Studying away from their own country gives participants time to focus, a fresh view of their own institution and the chance to build a network with colleagues from other countries.

State-Owned Enterprise Governance Reform and Fiscal Risk Management in Dubai Training Deliverables

Participants receive support before, during and after the programme, so that preparation, learning and follow-up form one continuous experience.

Before the Programme

• Participant Pre-Assessment
• State-Owned Enterprise Governance Reform and Fiscal Risk Management in Dubai Readiness Assessment
• State-Owned Enterprise Governance Reform and Fiscal Risk Management in Dubai Resource Pack
• Preparatory Reading Materials
• Complimentary Visa Support & Advisory

During the Programme

• Airport Pickup & Welcome Assistance
• Accommodation with Breakfast
• Welcome Networking Dinner
• Risalat Training Kit (Bag, Bottle, Mug, T-Shirt, Cap, Passport Cover, Pens, Notebook, Magnet & Keychain)
• Comprehensive State-Owned Enterprise Governance Reform and Fiscal Risk Management in Dubai Training Manual
• Leadership Self-Assessment
• Team Development Plan Template
• Change Plan Template
• Negotiation Preparation Sheet
• Practical Workshops & Simulations
• Group Discussions & Peer Learning
• Daily Lunch and Refreshments
• Full Access to Training Venue Facilities
• Mini Pad / Tablet with Digital Learning Materials
• Field Visit (where applicable)
• Entertaining City Tour

After the Programme

• Certificate of Completion
• Risalat Programme Participation Recognition Award
• Post-Training Reference Materials
• Personal Development Plan Template
• Coaching Conversation Guide
• Post-Training Support & Follow-Up Guidance
• Programme Report

Institutions can also request a tailored in-house version of this programme, delivered at their premises or online. Request a proposal.

Common Challenges in State-Owned Enterprise Governance Reform and Fiscal Risk Management in Dubai, And How This Training Helps

How can institutions set clear direction and priorities?

The programme addresses this directly on the first day (Day 1: Modern SOE Governance Frameworks and State Ownership Architecture), where participants practise the methods involved and adapt them to their own institution, then build it into their action plan.

How can institutions lead and motivate teams through change?

The programme addresses this directly on the second day (Day 2: Fiscal Risk Assessment, Balance Sheet Vulnerabilities, and Contingent Liabilities), where participants practise the methods involved and adapt them to their own institution, then build it into their action plan.

How can institutions communicate and negotiate effectively?

The programme addresses this directly on the third day (Day 3: Performance Contracting, Statements of Corporate Intent, and Utility…), where participants practise the methods involved and adapt them to their own institution, then build it into their action plan.

How can institutions manage performance fairly?

The programme addresses this directly on the fourth day (Day 4: Financial Monitoring, Transparency, and Restructuring Strategies), where participants practise the methods involved and adapt them to their own institution, then build it into their action plan.

How can institutions make sound decisions under pressure?

The programme addresses this directly on the first day (Day 1: Modern SOE Governance Frameworks and State Ownership Architecture), where participants practise the methods involved and adapt them to their own institution, then build it into their action plan.

Frequently Asked Questions

When and where does the State-Owned Enterprise Governance Reform and Fiscal Risk Management in Dubai programme take place?

It runs from 15 Feb 2027 to 18 Feb 2027, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The registration deadline is shown at the top of this page.

Who should attend?

The programme is designed for officials from the Department of Public Enterprises and state holding entities, macroeconomic and fiscal policy analysts within Ministries of Finance, board members and non-executive directors of major public utilities, chief executive officers and financial controllers of state-owned entities, and others who want practical skills in leadership, management and communication.

Will I receive a certificate?

Yes. Participants who complete the programme receive a Certificate of Completion from Risalat Consultants International.

Can this programme be delivered for our institution only?

Yes. We can deliver a tailored in-house version at your premises, in another city or online, built around your own cases. Use the proposal request on this page.

Do I need prior experience in leadership, management and communication?

No specialist background is required beyond experience in a related role. A short pre-assessment helps the facilitators adapt the sessions to the group.

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