Government Service Excellence Reaches New Heights with Fujairah Centre Achieving Historic 7-Star Rating

The sixth cycle of the Global Star Rating System for Services confirms the UAE Government's unwavering commitment to citizen-centred excellence, with unprecedented improvement across all service channels.

The Traffic and Licensing Services Centre in Fujairah has become the first government service channel to achieve a perfect 7-star rating since the system’s inception in 2011, marking a watershed moment in the emirate’s pursuit of world-leading public services. The milestone emerges from the sixth cycle assessment of 179 service channels across 27 federal government entities, the most comprehensive evaluation in the system’s 15-year history.

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, approved the results and commended the Ministry of Interior on the achievement, emphasising that improving government services and citizen experience remains a defining priority for the UAE Government. In his remarks, His Highness articulated a refined vision for public administration: services with the hospitality of finest hotels, the precision of leading banks, and the accessibility of global airlines. This benchmark reflects the leadership’s conviction that government must anticipate citizens’ needs, transcend expectations, and fundamentally enhance quality of life.

The cycle’s breadth reveals a system in robust health. Among 179 assessed channels, one achieved 7 stars, eight secured 6 stars, 67 attained 5 stars, 70 reached 4 stars, and 33 earned 3 stars. Call centres demonstrated the strongest advancement with a 13 percent improvement, followed by service centres at 5 percent and digital channels at 4 percent. Service centres delivered the highest overall performance, with digital channels close behind. Alongside Fujairah’s Traffic and Licensing triumph, the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security claimed two 6-star ratings, whilst the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure’s call centre earned 5 stars.

Mohammad Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs, described the system as far more than a measurement tool. Rather, it represents an institutional philosophy that places citizens at the centre of government design, turns service excellence into lasting cultural practice, and cultivates healthy competition that encourages innovation. Each rating provides channels with granular performance indicators, guiding priorities, streamlining operations, and sustaining continuous improvement. The 2019 refresh of evaluation criteria sharpened focus on customer experience, digital sophistication and proactive delivery, ensuring the system remains current with technological evolution.

The results confirm the trajectory established through a decade and a half of committed reform. What began as a transformative initiative has crystallised into a model that embeds excellence as institutional expectation rather than aspiration. The system’s architecture fosters excellence not through mandate alone, but through transparent measurement that reflects citizens’ lived experience of government service.

What it means for Abu Dhabi

For Abu Dhabi’s residents and businesses, these results signal the continuing momentum of a government system designed around their needs. The measurable improvements across all channel types—physical centres, digital platforms and telephone services—ensure that whether citizens choose to engage with government face to face, online or by telephone, they encounter consistent quality and efficiency. This breadth of improvement indicates that the government’s ambition is not merely to excel in one modality but to deliver excellence comprehensively across how people choose to interact with their public institutions.

The achievement also reflects Abu Dhabi’s role within the broader UAE’s governance architecture. With federal entities spanning the entire system, the emirate benefits from a framework that encourages healthy competition and continuous refinement among service providers across the seven emirates. The emphasis on citizen happiness and quality of life places public service improvement directly at the heart of the government’s work, ensuring that developmental efforts remain grounded in the tangible wellbeing of communities.

Source: WAM