Mohammed pledges to take country to First World league
07:36PM Sat 1 Dec, 2012
(Wam) / 1 December 2012
His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, on Saturday pledged to take the UAE to the ranks of developed countries and beyond.
“Together we celebrate today the auspicious occasion of our National Day as we did commemorate it over the last 41 years, because we want this dear occasion to perpetuate in the history of our people and take roots in the minds and hearts of our citizens and national culture so that it can be inherited by generations after generations,” Shaikh Mohammed said in a statement to the Dira’a Al Watan magazine on the UAE’s 41st National Day.
“We will safeguard the symbols of communication between this deep-rooted past and the vibrant present as well as the promising future which we, as leaders, are working to draw and build for the benefit of the present and coming generations. We do this through the construction of the scientific, educational and health facilities, as well as everything that will ensure opportunities of education, safe work and welfare for our citizens, especially the younger generation. It is on them we rely in the process of development and modernisation through their active participation.”
Shaikh Mohammed said infrastructure has been given a generous share of the state budget in order to improve the living conditions of all citizens and other segments of society. Infrastructure is a key factor in attracting domestic and foreign investments which, in turn, would help build an integrated national economy capable of competing with regional and international states.
The challenges faced by the process of building a modern state, he recalled, were many and complex. “But our founding leaders, who were led by the late Shaikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan and the late Shaikh Rashid Al Maktoum, were able to meet those challenges and overcome them with determination, persistence and good intentions until we got this welfare, civilisation, economic and political stability and social security.
“Today, under the leadership of my brother His Highness Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, we shoulder this great inheritance which we cherish, and glorify its national and humanitarian achievements. We preserve it because it is our national identity that we have to protect and uphold. It is with this identity that we build bridges of communication between ours and other cultures in order to build a humane partnership between our people and the peoples of the world based on mutual understanding, dialogue and coexistence and empathy,” he added.
Living as a family in the Arab Muslim society, whose guiding principles are solidarity, national cohesion, justice and sublime human values, the UAE will continue to interact with its Arab, regional and international partners in order to preserve national interests, maintain international peace and to contribute to the economic growth, prosperity and social stability for all people.
Paying tributes to members of the armed forces, Shaikh Mohammed said: “You deserve all our respect, reverence and greetings on this precious national occasion.”
“We urge you to hold on to the virtues and protect the honour of belonging to your military establishment, to your motherland, to your leaders and to your people who put their trust on your capability and steadfastness to safeguard the national gains and protect and defend the sovereignty and independence of our beloved country and dignity of its people,” he added.
Source: Khaleej Times