Qatar Emir's First Address to Advisory Council
HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani inaugurated on Tuesday morning the 42nd ordinary session of the Advisory Council in the presence of HH the Father Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani at the premises of the Council.
The opening started with playing Qatar's National Anthem, followed by reciting verses from the Holy Qur'an.
HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani delivered a speech in which he emphasized that Qatar has always acted to strengthen the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and achieving integration among its States, and bolstering Arab solidarity and developing the system for the joint Arab action, so that the Arabs have a high status and a voice in this world.
HH the Emir stressed his full support for the brotherly Syrian people who defend their dignity and existence on their land not just to achieve freedom and justice.
HH denounced some attempts to exchange achieving justice for this people who paid the highest prices and wrote an epic of heroism and pride, for unconditional and non-time-bound negotiations that would lead to nothing, calling for negotiations that should be held to reach a political solution on the basis of the recognition of the fair demands of the Syrian people, and on the basis of a timetable for achieving them.
HH the Emir criticized the failure of the international community to stand up against the regime that committed and is still committing crimes against humanity, and also its failure to take binding resolutions to stem the bloodshed, due to use of the veto by some countries in the Security Council, thus paralyzing the ability of the Council to take appropriate resolutions on the one hand, and because of the mounting double standards in international politics on the other.
HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani underlined that the Palestinian cause will remain the focus of Qatar's Arab and foreign policy in general and held Israel the primary responsibility for the continuation of the Palestinian issue and the suffering of the Palestinians without a solution, lie on the Israeli intransigence and the continuation of its unjust siege of Gaza strip, the policy of annexation and settlement in Jerusalem and the West Bank and the occupied Syrian Golan, and international leniency with this intransigence, which amounts to collusion.
HH the Emir said that Qatar's foreign policy has always been based on the principles of peaceful coexistence and cooperation with all countries and peoples, mutual respect, promoting common interests, consolidating international peace and security, keenness out of our existence in the Gulf region and our Arab and Islamic affiliations, to participate effectively in the issues and concerns of our Arab and Islamic nations.
At the internal level, HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani stressed in his opening speech of the Advisory Council 42nd Session that the building of institutions that are based on rational management of resources, professional standards, and benchmarks of productivity and efficiency, and serving the public interest on the one hand, and keenness on the welfare of the citizen, qualifying him for useful productive work, and grooming him to find meaning to his life in the serving his country and his society on the other hand, two-faces of the development process that we aspire to.
"The comprehensive development of our country has been, and continues to be, a major concern for us, because we believe that an integrated and balanced development is the key to establishing a modern State responsive to the needs of today, and capable of achieving to Qatar the stature that we look forward to, and to the Qatari people the decent standard of living they deserve, without abandoning our authentic Qatari Arab belonging and our most tolerant Islamic faith," HH the Emir said.
HH the Emir noted that Qatar's economy has sustained its accomplishments by achieving the best results as per the vision and strategy worked out for this purpose, despite global economic uncertainty and instability that prevent complete recovery from the successive crises that afflict a number of advanced and emerging economies alike, emphasizing at the same time the need to diversify the structure of the Qatari economy, with the participation of the private sector, and encouraging private initiative that can identify the potentials and market needs, in the context of price control and development planning of the country.
Qatar has maintained its top rank on global competitiveness and its relatively high indicators in the field of human development, HH said, adding that Qatar also has attained the highest Human Development ranking among the Arab Gulf countries in the Human Development Report for 2013 issued by the United Nations Development Program.
On the other hand, HH said that Qatar continues to enjoy a strong financial position, as it has achieved a surplus of 10.4 % of GDP, supported by a conservative approach in estimating crude oil prices for budgeting purposes, stressing that the government will continue in planning a budget in the context of a medium-term spending, that takes into account the priorities and allocations assigned to each sector, with a focus on outputs and outcomes.
Regarding the inflation problem, HH the Emir said that price rise is a problem that worries everyone and the government will seek to contain it by all available means and tools, in particular the monetary and fiscal policies, combating monopoly, encouraging competitiveness, setting an appropriate timetable to invest in major projects, and coordinating between these projects to avert being concentrated in a short period of time leading to pressure on the available potential capacity.
Full translation of the speech available from Qatar News Agency.
