JEDDAH: Under the patronage of Saudi Arabia’s King Salman and on his behalf, Riyadh Gov. Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Abdul Aziz will attend a ceremony organized by the General Secretariat of King Abdul Aziz Quality Award (KAQA) to honor winning establishments in the Kingdom The event will take place in Riyadh on Jan. 7. The award focuses on supporting and promoting the best professional practices and institutional excellence in the nonprofit sector. It is open to both charities and other nonprofit organizations. This award is the Kingdom’s version of the International Quality Awards. Its vision is to be distinctive and pioneering at the national, regional and global levels and achieve its objectives to improve the quality of services and productivity in the Kingdom. The award was launched in 2007 at a quality conference in the Eastern Province, which featured 22 nominees. The award has ethical dimensions reflected in the use of King Abdul Aziz’s name in the award as well as the patronage of the Saudi king. Therefore, winners reap the many benefits at all levels, locally, regionally and globally. The award assesses criteria such as quality of leadership, strategic planning, human resources, management of suppliers and partners, and operations. KAQA has been developed by the Saudi Standard, Metrology and Quality Organization to promote competition by providing a general reference framework to evaluate the performance of establishments and develop them according to international standards.