HM to preside over military parade

MUSCAT: His Majesty Sultan Qaboos, Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, will preside over the 48th Glorious National Day military parade, which will be staged at the parade ground of the Royal Guard of Oman (RGO) Command on Sunday. Symbolic units representing the Royal Army of Oman (RAO), Royal Air Force of Oman (Rafo), Royal Navy of Oman (RNO), Royal Guard of Oman (RGO), the Sultan’s Special Force (SSF), Royal Oman Police (ROP) and Royal Court Affairs (RCA) will take part. The parade will be attended by their highnesses, ministers, advisers, commanders and senior state military and civil officials. Omani people all over the Sultanate will mark the 48th anniversary of the National Day, on Sunday. The achievements made in the past 48 years are the outcome of the efforts made since the first day of the blessed Renaissance. The achievements made are attributed to His Majesty’s wisdom, will and love for his loyal subjects. His Majesty managed to streamline all resources and channel them to achieve a qualitative leap in all fields to ensure a good present and brighter future for Omanis. The relationship between His Majesty and the Omanis of successive generations is very unique in shape and essence. Since the launch of the Renaissance in 1970, the Sultanate of Oman, as a state and a society, has managed to become a modern state and play a positive role in promoting peace, security and stability for itself and for countries and people of the region as well. The Sultanate’s efforts were based on many social and economic achievements made as well as on the remarkable prosperity and development in the standard of living of the citizens, and its continuation is the fruit of the enlightened thought of His Majesty the leader and his care for the Omani citizens. The Omani man has been provided with the required education, training and rehabilitation to prepare him to become a partner and active player in the development process. The Omani man has been always regarded as the medium and aim of this development process. Efforts were made to build a modern state based on justice, equality, citizenship and rule of law. His Majesty has also spared no effort in maintaining unity of the nation from the Governorate of Musandam to the last part of the Omani land in the Governorate of Dhofar and from the east to the far west in Al Buraimi, Al Dhahirah, Al Wusta and Al Rub Al Khali (the Empty Quarter). The Basic Law of the State and its amendments have embodied this to ensure the state of the institutions, the rule of law, the broad and deep cooperation among the executive and legislative organisations within the framework of the equality, judicial independence and facilitating justice to citizens. As part of the Royal care for the Omani man, especially youth which are accorded with special care by His Majesty the Sultan, more than 33,000 jobs have been provided for job-seekers in the private sector institutions in cooperation with the government till the end of May 2018. In October, His Majesty also ordered to promote the Omani staff, 2010 batch, and expand the number of beneficiaries in fuel subsidy programme implemented by the government. As part of the cooperation between Council of Ministers and Council of Oman (State Council and Majlis Ash’shura), a joint meeting between the Council of Ministers and the Council of Oman was held on May 2. Citizens and the state institutions have showed high degree of cohesion and cooperation in addressing the adverse weather conditions that affected the governorates of Dhofar and Al Wusta — Mekunu cyclone — last May and Luban cyclone in October. The efforts have been appreciated by the Council of Ministers as well as other regional and international organisations. The Omani modern march goes with steady strides to achieve more progress and prosperity for the Omani man and improve standards of living. Resources are allocated to ensure growth of Omani economy, diversifying sources of national income and reducing reliance on oil as a main source of government revenue. Resources have also been allocated to implement projects in the key sectors in the 9th Five-Year Development Plan (2016-2020) and the national programme for economic diversification (Tanfeedh). Preparations have been made to launch Oman Vision 2040, which seeks to take the Omani economy to wider horizons and make the Sultanate an advanced regional logistics hub, especially after the completion of the SEZAD projects. The government is keen on developing the health, education and social services provided to Omani citizens. In this connection, the Sultanate was ranked high on many indices published by international organisations. For example, it topped the list on many competitiveness indices, including being free of terrorism index, credibility of police service, judicial independence, quality of roads, efficiency of port service and open data, among others. The high ranking reflects the great efforts made by the government to develop the economic, social and service sectors. While presiding over the Council of Ministers’ meeting in February, His Majesty the Sultan expressed satisfaction and appreciation for the efforts made by the government which take into consideration the social and economic aspects. The Sultanate seeks to give momentum to the programmes made to develop youth skills and capabilities through a number of programmes, such as the ‘National Programme for the Development of Youths’ Skills’, which was launched with Royal blessings this year by the Diwan of Royal Court. This is done by encouraging and supporting SMEs and providing more facilities that encourage youths to set up their own ventures as this will ensure the growth and development of national economy. While the e-tourist visa service was introduced in March, the Muscat International Airport too started full operations in the same month. It is also an opportunity to renew pledge to maintain the achievements made during the Blessed Renaissance and continue the modern Omani Renaissance march under the wise leadership of His Majesty to ensure brighter future for Oman and Omanis and for peace and stability in the region as well as enhancing the Sultanate’s relations towards achieving joint interests with other countries and interests of the region. — ONA