Administrative Arrangements
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Invitation and Participation Criteria
· The training courses offered at the IMF-Middle East Center for Economics and Finance (CEF) are intended for officials from the Arab League member countries.
· A candidate must be an employee of an eligible governmental agency. The CEF cannot consider applications from persons employed in nongovernmental agencies such as universities, trade unions, and commercial banks.
· Course Announcements: Bulk emails are sent out by the CEF to partner government agencies announcing the upcoming courses and providing the application links.
· Interested applicants should apply online at the provided link which contains all courses offered at the CEF by way of the Training Application System (TAS). Applicants should choose which courses are of interest to them and follow the procedures outlined under the IMF Smart Catalogue to submit their applications through TAS.
· For the WTO (World Trade Organization) courses, the WTO sends invitations to the eligible government agencies, and they manage the application and selection processes from their end.
· For online courses: Online Courses (OL) are free and open to all government officials of IMF member countries. There are no restrictions on the number of officials who can participate in these courses.
Nomination, Selection and Sponsorship
· All applicants/nominees must submit a valid Sponsor’s Nomination Form signed and stamped by a senior official in the agency where they work. This form proves a candidate is officially endorsed by the government agency and has received approval to attend the course.
· Sponsoring agencies should indicate an order of priority when nominating more than one candidate. Agencies should exercise the greatest care in nominating applicants who meet the selection criteria of academic background and job relevance. They are strongly encouraged to only nominate participants who will be available to serve their government for a reasonable time after receiving the training.
· Fluency in the language of instruction, or interpretation when provided, should be taken into consideration. Most of the courses are conducted in Arabic or English with simultaneous interpretation to both languages. Some specialized courses are conducted in English only due to their technical nature; therefore, excellent knowledge of English is a requirement to be accepted in such courses. Some flagship courses are offered in Arabic only.
· Priority is given to those applicants whose professional assignments are closely related to the subject matter of the course.
· Applications must be submitted to the CEF by the deadline indicated for each course.
· The training mission team assigned to the course is responsible for the final selection of candidates. Once selected, participants will receive detailed information about administrative and other arrangements involved.
· The accepted applicants are expected to be on leave of absence with regular pay for the duration of the course and should be given no other duties or assignments during the period of the course.
· Participants are required to arrive on time, attend all sessions, and complete the course. The CEF, in coordination with the Mission Chief responsible for the course, retains the right to deny an applicant the attendance certificate in case of failure to comply with these requirements
Eligibility Criteria Relating to Previous Course Attendance
Due to capacity constraints at the CEF and in view of the high demand for training in the region, previous participation is taken into account when considering nominees for courses. Multiple attendances within a short period or repeat enrollments in the same course are flagged by the CEF and they are carefully reviewed by Mission Chiefs during the selection process.
Visas
· The CEF arranges the issuance of entry visas to Kuwait for all participants. The Course Administrator in charge of the course will communicate with the accepted applicants upon their selection to attend the course and request the documents required by the Kuwaiti authorities to issue the electronic visa.
· Once the visa is issued, a copy is emailed to the participant to be used upon boarding the flight to Kuwait. They are required to print a hard copy for easy reference.
· The accepted participants are also requested to download the E visa application of the Ministry of Interior in Kuwait to facilitate their travel arrangements.
· The hard copy of the visa should be kept by the participant in case it is needed by the passport control at the airport upon departure from Kuwait.
Flights
· The CEF provides all participants with flight tickets to and from Kuwait in economy class. The choice of the ticket follows the Lowest Available Direct Fare (LADF) principle.
· Upon receiving their acceptance letters, participants are responsible for contacting the designated CEF travel agent to arrange for issuing their flight tickets.
· Once the participant accepts the flight option provided by the CEF designated travel agent, he/ she will be responsible for covering any charges resulting from changing their ticket.
Accommodation
· Accommodation during the course is provided at a local hotel.
· The CEF covers the cost of the accommodation at the hotel including breakfast. Participants are responsible for all other charges in the hotel, i.e., phone calls, room service…etc.
Daily Subsistence Allowance (Per Diem)
· Each participant, from outside Kuwait, receives a Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA)- Per Diem, intended to cover the cost of dinner and some of the participant’s incidental expenses. Breakfast and lunch are covered by the CEF.
· The DSA might not cover all additional expenses; therefore, participants should be prepared to supplement the allowance from their own resources according to their expenditure needs.
Health Insurance
· The CEF provides participants from outside Kuwait with health insurance benefits covering 95% of essential medical and hospital expenses.
· However, these benefits do not cover expenses incurred in connection with pre-existing medical conditions, such as pregnancy; neither do they cover general lab tests and medical checkups.
· Participants should be in good health, free from any contagious diseases, or pre-existing medical conditions that could impair their full participation in the course.
