National Day reinforces the values of citizenship, unity

HE the Minister of Development Planning and Statistics Dr Saleh Mohamed Salem al-Nabit has underlined that the National Day represents an important opportunity to renew loyalty to the homeland and strengthen the values of citizenship and unity.In a statement to Qatar News Agency (QNA), the minister said that the occasion of the National Day motivates all those who live on the land of Qatar to give more, and contribute to instilling the meanings of loyalty and unity among young people, linking the past with the present, and move towards a more optimistic, bright and prosperous future.He noted that this year’s celebrations come in special circumstances, where those values have had the greatest impact on Qatar’s stances on the Gulf crisis.He highlighted the significance of the slogan of this year’s celebration “Promise of Prosperity and Glory” which carries a strong message to the whole world about the unity and cohesion of the people of Qatar with all the values of loyalty, solidarity and unity, which emphasises the greatness of the people of Qatar, and this great generation which has left a proud, sovereign and free country.Dr al-Nabit underlined that the wise directives of His Highness the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani in his speech on July 21 and his speech at the opening of the new session of the Advisory Council are important for development and represented a road map for dealing with the Gulf crisis.He highlighted Qatar’s rational dealing with the current Gulf crisis and its repercussions, and its committed to the principles and customs of the neighbourhood even in a time of conflict and dispute, adding that Qatar adopted a policy of self-restraint and avoided and anything that may affect its values.The State rather concentrated its efforts to find the basis for an unconditional political dialogue based on mutual respect for the sovereignty of states to resolve differences, in order to preserve the security and stability of the region and the well-being of their peoples.The State, represented by its governmental agencies and private sector partners, had taken all measures to preserve economic stability and to protect it against shocks through greater economic independence and openness, and the need to speed up economic infrastructure development projects, continue all efforts to sustain the wheel of development and move forward in achieving the national development agenda for the years 2017-2022, in addition to increase the readiness of sectors in crisis situations, and to achieve water, food and pharmaceutical security, the minister added.The Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics is responsible for developing the overall vision of the State in co-operation with the relevant authorities, preparing national development strategies, following up on their implementation in co-ordination with concerned bodies, and preparing studies on these strategies and population policies.Within the framework of the activities of the Development Planning Department, the ministry has worked diligently to assess successes and shortcomings in the performance of the National Development Strategy 2011-2016.Detailed presentations were given to the Supreme Council for Economic Affairs and Investment to clarify all the circumstances associated with the National Development Strategy and avoid negative ones.In collaboration with other ministries and government agencies, the Ministry of Development Planning has also initiated the preparation of the National Development Strategy 2017-2022, in which it focused on the major challenges facing the implementation of the National Development Strategy 2011-2016 and provided solutions to overcome these challenges.In support of the planning of ministries and government agencies, the ministry reviewed and updated the results-based strategic planning manual issued by the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers in 2011 in partnership with the ministries of interior, finance, and administrative development, labour and social affairs, in order to keep abreast of developments and consistency with the second National Development Strategy 2017-2022.On the statistical sector, the ministry organised the “Arab Forum on Building Statistical Capacity for a Data Revolution” with the participation of more than 150 delegates from Arab countries, international and regional organisations and national statistical offices.The ministry also participated in the meetings of the 48th session of the United Nations Statistical Commission.Meanwhile, the Department of Economic Statistics and National Accounts developed economic statistics programmes to increase quarterly and semi-annual data capacity.On the other hand, the ministry has conducted statistical surveys in the areas of the sectoral data “Training — Culture — Sports — Tourism”. The ministry also completed data collection for many research projects in 2017, including 2017 Labour Force Surveys, 2017 Consumer Confidence Survey, 2017 Business Confidence Survey, and a Survey on public satisfaction with the services of ministries and government institutions 2017, and survey data on household expenditure 2017-2018.The ministry’s population committee launched the new five-year Population Policy 2017-2022 in line with the second phase of planning in the context of human and social development.The new population policy was based on six main axes, population and labour force, education, training and youth, urban development, environment and population, public health and reproductive health, motherhood and childhood, the elderly and persons with disabilities.The ministry also took part in several local and international events in 2017 and organised many activities and events, such as Qatar Population Day 2017, the Gulf Statistical Forum, along with its participation in the 61st World Statistics Congress in Marrakesh, the meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Arab Planning Institute in Kuwait, and the High Level Political Forum on the Sustainable Development Agenda 2030.