Dubai (WAM)
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, may God protect him, said that today, as we enjoy the achievements of the first fifty years of our country’s long life, and are proud of the progress and prestige we have achieved for our country, we remember our fathers who established our union and established our state, and paved the paths of renaissance and prosperity for us. His Highness added in a speech he addressed through Shield of the Nation magazine on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the country’s union that we remember our father, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, “may God rest his soul”, and we do not find enough phrases that express our great appreciation for his leadership, wisdom and giving, without him, the union would not exist, and the union would not exist. Our state has become a stable and effective reality in our region and our world.. We remember with gratitude and appreciation Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, “may God rest his soul,” the partner of Sheikh Zayed in laying the first building block of the union on February 18, 1968, and his companion in establishing, building and facing challenges.
Below is the text of the speech.
“In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful, dear sons and daughters of my country, peace, mercy, and blessings of God be upon you. I greet and congratulate you on the fiftieth anniversary of the Union, and I address the Lord, the Mighty and Sublime, with praise and thanks for the blessings He has bestowed upon us. Contribute to the process of building our union and our state since its early beginnings. Today, as we enjoy the achievements of the first fifty years of our country’s long life, and are proud of the progress and prestige we have achieved for our country, we remember our fathers who established our union and established our state, and paved the paths for us to renaissance and prosperity. We remember our father, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, may God rest his soul, and we do not find enough expressions that express our great appreciation for his leadership, wisdom and giving. Without him, the union would not have been established, and our state would not have become a stable and effective reality in our region and our world. We remember with gratitude and appreciation, Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, may God rest his soul, the partner of Sheikh Zayed in laying the first building block of the union on February 18, 1968, and his companion in his path of foundation, construction and facing challenges. We remember with appreciation their brothers, the rulers of the Emirates, who gathered around them and participated in consolidating the pillars of the Union. On this day, the memory of the first generation of the sons of the Emirates who carried the union in their hearts and worked with sincerity and dedication in building, managing and developing state institutions will not be missed. The memory of our ancestors who preserved our land and perpetuated life on it, overcoming isolation, scarcity of resources and harsh environment will not be missed on this day.
Although 17 years have passed since Sheikh Zayed moved to the abode of survival, his presence in our days and consciences is becoming more and more firmly established, and whenever the second day of December comes, this presence intensifies in my soul and mind. I contemplated his decisions and positions, the essence of which were the interests of our country, the happiness of our people, and the strengthening of our union. And loneliness for Sheikh Zayed was an act of faith that marked his thinking, his life approach and his policies in managing public affairs. And he felt that he was obligated to strive for the path of unity, so he was the driving force for the establishment of our union and our state, and he was the trusted partner in establishing the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, and he was the initiator in efforts to strengthen Arab cooperation. The legacy of Sheikh Zayed in leadership and governance is a school in which generations learn valuable lessons in generous giving to the homeland, in weaving relations with others, in bridging conflicting positions, in managing crises, facing challenges and inventing solutions to complex problems. In fact, the challenges did not leave our path, as they are the nature of life, and individuals, societies and states encounter them.. The biggest challenge was our challenge to ourselves. We had to prove our ability to establish an effective state and build an ambitious development model.. In the past fifty years, we have faced challenges that varied between security and political And we dealt with them as they should, based on our belief that our national and human merit lies in our rise to confront them with confidence, faith and optimism. Thus, we succeeded in facing the challenges of the stage of establishing the Union and stabilizing its bases, the stagnation of the global economy at the end of the seventies of the last century, the repercussions of the first Gulf War, and the invasion of Kuwait, And the occupation of Iraq, and the events of the “so-called Arab Spring” that plunged the Arab world into a tunnel of chaos and turmoil, and caused massive destruction and devastation to Arab countries and societies. Citizens, let us today to reflect on where we were fifty years ago, where we have become, and how we got here? I think that a large percentage of our sons and daughters under the age of fifty do not know the full picture, while those over the age of fifty are aware of it.
There is no room here for comparisons with numbers, facts, and conditions. To take note of them requires volumes. In any case, they are documented with information, audio, and images, and are available to everyone. Therefore, I will only refer to important titles and paths whose details I lived, participated in most of, and experienced their development closely. Today I reflect on the path of the emergence and formation of the Emirati national identity. Building a national identity for a people is usually a difficult and sensitive historical process. In some models in our world, the process was accompanied by extreme violence, sometimes by violent wars, and at other times it was imposed by one party on another by force and coercion. This has left internal conflicts in several countries, and attempts to secede regions in other countries. But our Emirati identity was born healthy on the day the union was born, because the Emiratis were one people who were divided into several entities, and the unitary spirit is deeply rooted in their souls from the reality of kinship, lineage, unity of belief, geography, history, civilizational reference, values, customs and traditions. This spirit found in the Union the embodiment of its hopes and ambitions, and in Sheikh Zayed a leader to realize these hopes and ambitions. Today, I reflect on the path of government performance, which started from scratch, and created ministries, institutions, and legislation that were not entrusted to Emiratis, nor sufficient national cadres to fill most of their jobs. It started to retreat due to the accumulation of experiences and the influx of qualified national human resources, until we reached here a government that matches the best of its counterparts in the world, in performance, planning, keeping pace with changes, anticipating the future, and quickly and positively interacting with its developments. I contemplate the path of comprehensive development for man and urbanism, and its transition in all its fields, from quantity to quality, leading to competition for the first positions in its global indicators. The evidence is innumerable, whether at the level of infrastructure facilities, digital infrastructure, or diversification of the economy and the development of education, health and housing services.
Perhaps the process of building our armed forces provides the most eloquent examples of this path. It is at the heart of the state-building processes, interacting with it and accompanying it in achievement and progress, adding to it its superior experiences in the formation of national human resources, enabling it to master the language of our time with all its achievements, sciences, and the latest technologies and inventions. Today, I reflect on the path that has achieved our country’s prestigious position in the world, and its role in the affairs of our time has made it vital and effective. It is a long and rising path that is bound by development and humanitarian achievements and initiatives. It is filled by positions and policies and the consolidation of principles of coexistence, tolerance, acceptance of others and respect for their privacy. We have doubled the pace of the rise of this path, about twenty-five years ago, when we placed at the core of our visions and strategies the emerging global trends in economy, development and the environment. At that time, the world was reshaping itself around digital technology, so we broke into the digital world at an early stage, and built a superior digital infrastructure, which enabled us to confidently enter the era of e-government, the era of digital economy, and move them to the era of artificial intelligence. We realized that space is the vital field of the digital world, so we moved from buying satellites to manufacturing them with Emirati hands and minds. We moved from following up on the fascination with the news of scientific trips to study space and planets, to participating in these trips. We have embarked on a journey of departure from rating consumers to rating producers, and we are determined to be partners in the global community of space science and industries. We have prepared and prepared for this partnership its requirements. We put plans, projects and implementation programs. And we have built specialized institutions, cadres and national expertise that are strengthened day after day by the minds of our young men and women. In addition, our space industries enrich the national scientific structure, overlap with all micro-industries, enhance our sources of strength, and involve high value-added economic opportunities. The size of the space economy today exceeds a trillion dollars, and it is a candidate for steady increases, and we are competing with others for our shares in it. . Another area in which we share the world’s growing interest is climate change. We approach this issue at the governmental level with the attention it deserves, and we want this attention to extend to society and the private sector. The climate problem is global par excellence, and no country or geographic region can escape from its catastrophic repercussions. Especially the global warming, sea level change, the intensification of hurricanes, and the extension of drought. We in the UAE are active partners in facing the effects of climate change. About twenty years ago, we doubled our investment in clean energy and carbon-reduction technology, and we have taken an important stride towards achieving the goals of the UAE Energy Strategy 2050, which is based on diversifying clean energy production sources. Today, we have two solar power plants, among the largest in the world, and the third plant is under construction. We have Barakah nuclear power plants, the first city of the year to rely on clean energy, and the first project in the region to produce green hydrogen. These achievements have made our country an important global partner in confronting climate change, which prompted the countries of the world to choose Masdar City in our capital as the headquarters of the International Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), in a precedent for choosing a city in the Middle East as the headquarters of an international organization. And in an additional confirmation of the world’s confidence in the capabilities of our country, the countries of the world chose the UAE to host the 2023 world session of the United Nations Climate Summit /COP 28/. Oh, fellow citizens.
Tomorrow we begin the second fiftieth in the process of development and development, guided by the UAE vision 2071, the principles of the fiftieth, and the ten principles adopted by His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the State “may God protect him” as a reference for all state institutions, to strengthen the pillars of the union, build a sustainable economy, and harness all Resources for a more prosperous society, developing regional and international relations to achieve the supreme interests of the state, and supporting the foundations of peace and stability in the world. We start tomorrow, and we are more confident in our lofty Emirati model, our rich experiences in planning, implementation and future foresight, and the efficiency of our national human resources, realizing that we are moving in a global environment that is witnessing unprecedented changes in its speed and impact on international relations, priorities of countries, work methods, and lifestyles. Over the past two years, we have built frameworks that ensure us adapt to these changes, keep pace with them and respond quickly to their requirements, by taking the appropriate decision at the right time, and amending and developing plans whenever necessary, in order to enhance our ability to seize opportunities and avoid the risks associated with these changes. Just as we succeeded in keeping pace with emerging global trends and participating in their movement, and we were able to achieve the goals of the UAE Vision 2021, we have completed our preparations for the next fifty years, with visions that foresee the future, covering all our vital sectors, and set strategies, plans, programs and implementation mechanisms, and developed legislation to enhance development engines, and develop business environment, expands the economy, stimulates investment, encourages innovation, and builds and attracts outstanding minds in advanced science, research and development. All of this enhances the sources and components of our own strength, consolidates the pillars of security and stability, improves the quality of life of our people, and supports our active participation in the affairs of our world. Dear male and female citizens, fifty years pass today by counting the days and years, but her achievements, lessons and experiences continue with us, inspiring and motivating us to dedicate to serving our country. With you and with you, sons and daughters of my country, we will add new achievements, take our Emirati model to the widest horizons, nurture the paths of development, continue to climb in the corridors of progress, and compete with the countries of the world for the first positions in all indicators of sustainable development. Every national day and you and our country are fine, honorable and successful. May you be among the returnees Alghanimin. Peace, mercy and blessings of God”.
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