Speech of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said
before the Opening of the Annual Session of the Council of Oman (14/11/2006)
In the name of the God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
We give profound thanks to God and may prayers trial peace be upon His
honest messen ger, His honourable family and His companions.
Dear Citizens,
Through the grace of God we meet again on this occasion
in which we have always been keen to review some aspects of the blessed
Renaissance. We stress our resolve to achieve its goals and its
objectives of further progress and prosperity through a comprehensive
development that seeks to develop human and natural resources and build
an infra-structure that would yield sustainable economic growth,
strengthen the pillars of social structure and consolidate the bases of a
modern State, God willing.
On this occasion we would not like to miss pointing out that in this
month, in the year 1981, we launched the State Consultative Council as the first step on the path to realising our policies aimed
at providing greater opportunities of participation for our citizens in
the efforts exerted by the government in implementing economic and social
plans.
We thank God for the success of that step which
was followed by another blessed step when the Consultation Council (Majlis
A'Shura) was inaugurated in December 1991.
The Consultation Council was a pioneering experiment
and a strong solid building block in the construction of the
institution-based state we are striving to consolidate. At the same time
in embracing the useful and positive elements of the modern age, every
effort has been made to ensure that Omani society's firm foundations and
principles are not abandoned. As you may well know, these two steps were
crowned by the establishment of the Council of Oman which comprises the
State Council and the Consultation Council, where the bicameral system
works together to enrich the development and building process. They
propose ideas and opinions that
serve the common good and contribute to providing more means of progress
and a decent life for all citizens through various recommendations that
receive our government's utmost care and also through open dialogue
between members of the Council and government ministers.
We congratulate you on the 25th anniversary of
the Council's initial step and pray to God to grant your Council - the
Council of Oman - success in carrying out its duties in a manner that
achieves cooperation and integration between the Council and various
organs of the State in Order to fulfill the ambitions of the citizens and
realise their hopes and aspirations. He doth what he intendeth.
Dear Citizens,
The principles of our domestic policies have been
cemented during the past years through plans and programmes aimed at
building the human being, spreading development and reinforcing security
and peace. These are goals that we have looked forward to achieving since
the dawn of modem Oman and for which we have stressed our resolve to
continue our efforts to attain. Through God's grace, guidance and divine
providence, every step of our Renaissance has been made easy. Praise be
to God for his generosity, he is worthy of all praise and anchor of all
hopes.
Dear Citizens,
You are aware of the extent of the attention we
accord to the development of human resources in order to provide our
young sons and daughters with wider and better opportunities of education,
training and employment. This is almost a fixed item in each of our
speeches addressed through you to all the people of Oman. There can be no
doubt that the human being is the basic component and the cornerstone of
any viable civilisation. We, therefore, once again reaffirm the importance
of this element in the development and modernisation of society.
Therefore, we are glad to express our satisfaction over
the serious steps taken in recent years by the government and the private
sector in the fields of Ornanisation and training of the emerging
generations.
We are also delighted to see a growing tendency to take
jobs in various fields. We hope that this is an indication of an
increasing awareness among individuals in the society of the importance of
work, regardless of its
type.
In this regard, we
would like to reiterate that expertise and skills can only be gained
by remaining in jobs.
From this platform, we salute all those who work
diligently with persistence and dedication in any field of work that will
benefit the individual and society.
We are pleased, clear citizens, to also express our
satisfaction over what has been achieved in the field of spreading higher
education to the different regions through the establishment of private
universities that include colleges offering diverse sciences and arts
programmes which are needed in the country and which meet the requirements
of the labour market, which is the ultimate melting pot that absorbs the
output of educational
institutions. Therefore, we welcome the establishment of new private
universities in other regions that require higher educational
institutions, provided that objective studies prove their feasibility and
that their high quality programmes will ensure that the students will be
successful in the work place, and also guarantee that their certificates
are recognized at both
national and international levels.
Besides the capacity
to absorb large numbers of higher education seekers - a matter that we
encourage and urge - these educational institutions should provide
high-quality education for students, since quantity is useless unless high
standards are maintained in order to advance scientific and applicable
skills.
Knowledge and work are inseparable, since you cannot
dispense with one without the other. It is through these that nations can
develop their illustrious qualities and shape their present and future
existence. It is through this that human beings fulfill themselves and
achieve their ambitions for a decent, stable life and a future brimming
with hope and prosperity. We are certain that Omani society is fully aware
of this fact. In this connection we should like to declare that we have
decided to provide appropriate assistance for private universities to
encourage them to carry out their duty to provide society with
highly-qualified people, in order to raise the standard of their
performance and that of their graduates in all fields of work as is
required in these modern times. May Clod grant success.
Dear Citizens,
The path we have
followed in our foreign policy over the past decades has shown
itself to be both sound and effective, with God's guidance. We are
committed to this approach, which supports justice, peace and security,
and tolerance and love, which calls for international cooperation in order
to reinforce stability, promote growth and prosperity and tackle the
causes of tension in international relations by producing just and
permanent solutions to critical problems, which fosters peaceful
co-existence between nations, and which generates well-being and
prosperity for the whole of mankind.
Our Lord. Bestow on us mercy from Thyself, and shape
for us right conduct.
May God grant you success. And may peace be upon you and the mercy of God
and His blessings.
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H.M. News 
