His Majesty King Abdullah II on Tuesday affirmed his support to initiatives of development and modernization sought for by King Abdullah II Award for Excellence and Transparency in government performance.

During a meeting with the award steering committee and in presence of HRH Prince Faisal bin Al Hussein, President of the Award Board of Trustees, King Abdullah said he was interested in following up preparations and efforts of government departments competing to win the award.

King Abdullah stressed the independence of the award to become a neutral yardstick that could measure government departments' plans and programs for training and administrative reform.

During the meeting, which was also attended by Royal Court Minister Samir Rifai, King Abdullah called for institutionalizing the award to ensure its continuity and urged the committee members to consider the possibility of grouping awards of excellence under one umbrella to follow suit the world model where awards of excellence are grouped under one independent umbrella.