RIYADH — The European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) has announced that the Ministry of Commerce has obtained the "Recognized For Excellence 4 Stars" Certificate.

This makes the Ministry the first government agency in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to be granted this certificate, due to its adherence to standards of institutional excellence and adopting many international standards.

The Ministry is now one of four government agencies around the world to obtain this certificate.

The announcement was made in the presence of Minister of Commerce Dr. Majid Bin Abdullah Al-Qasabi and Chief Executive Officer of EFQM Russell Longmuir.

The CEO of EFQM said in a virtual meeting that the Ministry of Commerce is the first government agency in the Kingdom to obtain a 4-star rating in institutional excellence from the EFQM.

He added, that among 50,000 bodies that have been evaluated during the past 30 years, only 10% obtained 4 stars rating and higher.

The achievement comes after the Ministry adopted the EFQM institutional excellence model, which is the most widespread in the world.

The model evaluates capabilities and results based on 9 main criteria, including leadership, strategy, human resources, resources and partnerships, services and operations; and customers, employees, community, and key performance results. — SPA