Muscat: His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik delivered a Royal speech on the occasion of the 11th of January, the day he assumed power in the Sultanate of Oman.
The speech reads as follows:
In the name of Allah, the Almighty, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Praise Be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds. Prayers and peace be upon His Messenger, Prophet Mohammed, the Most Honorable of All Creations, upon his family and his companions and those who follow them in righteousness until the Day of Judgment
Dear citizens,
May the peace and blessings of Allah, the Almighty, be upon you.
It gives us pleasure to celebrate with you, on this glorious day, the numerous accomplishments that have been made in our beloved country during the past five years of our Renewed Renaissance, thanks to the support of Allah, the Almighty, and to the efforts made by you all.
Allah Almighty has bestowed countless blessings upon this country, as stated in the Holy Quran, “And if you count the favours of Allah, you could not enumerate them. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful”, and, to demonstrate gratitude for these bounties, we should preserve and protect them. Security and safety are the greatest of these bounties and blessings. No nation can function properly without security and safety, and no country can achieve stability and prosperity without them.
Throughout the ages, the people of this dear nation have proven that they are steadfast in unity, like a solid structure, and that they move forward with insight that stems from tolerant faith, rejecting all fanaticism, avoiding all distractions that might divide the nation or weaken its resolve, holding firm on everything that unites them in true faith, taking the initiative to do good and staying steadfast in building the homeland and nation.
Loyal people of Oman
Our dear country has preserved its identity as an independent sovereign state throughout the ages. Many forms of reign succeeded one another and each played a civilizational role and boasted a historic stance. On this auspicious day, we remember the unique leaders of Oman throughout history, the leaders who hoisted high the banner of this nation, united its people, preserved its land and defended its sovereignty. We hereby assume the same course, pledging to the Almighty that nothing would divert us from our firm determination, nor would any interest supersede the interests of our nation—assisted in this resolve by the blessed grace of the Almighty and the prayers of His Messenger, Prophet Mohammed.
It also gives us pleasure that—in honor of our ancestors the Sultans, and, in remembrance of a glorious day in the brilliant history of Oman—to announce on this occasion that the 20th of November will be a national day for the Sultanate of Oman every year. It is the day on which the Al Busaidi family was honoured to serve this dear country since the year 1744, at the hands of the founding Imam, Sayyid Ahmed bin Said Al Busaidi, who unified the Omani nation and led its struggle and great sacrifices for the sake of realizing complete sovereignty over the land of Oman and safeguarding the freedom and dignity for its honorable people. Following this Imam, Sayyid Ahmed bin Said Al Busaidi, a number of great Sultans carried the banner of the nation, with full courage and competence, and completed its victorious march with determination and persistence.
Our celebration of this day constitutes an immortalization of the noble deeds of those Sultans. It demonstrates our firm commitment to the principles and values that formed the fabric of our Omani nation. We pledge to preserve its unity and cohesion, remain vigilant about safeguarding the interests and reject any infringement on its fundamental principles or sanctities.
Dear Citizens,
The past years saw the launch of Oman Vision 2040, the vision of all Omanis, and set their clear path towards the future. Thanks to the grace of Allah the Almighty, continuous progress was made towards the goals of this phase of the Renewed Renaissance, including improvement in many national and international indicators. This would not have been achieved without the solidarity and support extended by all the people of this country to the government's efforts and endeavors.
God willing, we will maintain this progress in the coming years in a manner that upgrades the quality and efficiency of services that the citizens aspire for, thus offering them an opportunity to contribute to the development of the public service system that we wish to make a vital domain for government excellence and a pillar of competitiveness.
We have been keen to ensure that this improvement goes hand in hand with the expansion of infrastructure services, health and educational facilities, as well as the establishment of integrated cities and major investment projects whenever financial resources allow us to do so. We have also laid down the foundations of a local administration system that accelerates the development of the country’s governorates, build a promising economic base in them and build comprehensive partnership with the community.
While we commend development projects, economic and social progress made in these governorates, we affirm our determination to continue granting the governorates more powers and support, across various sectors, so that they could become economic centres that would drive economic growth in the country.
We have also established a comprehensive social protection scheme that was undertaken by our government, and we have ordained that its mechanisms and programmes be reviewed from time to time so that all could enjoy a decent life and desired justice.
During the past period, we also kept track of the government’s efforts aimed at utilizing the energies of our young people, enabling them to access various spheres of work and excel therein. We have instructed state institutions to revise the system of employment and link it to the potential of economic and social sectors. We have also instructed the government to work diligently to align the country’s economic development tracks and its education and training systems with the aspirations of young people, while at the same time preparing to access appropriate employment that would serve their present and future.
Since furnishing a proper investment and commercial environment constitutes a fundamental pillar in the country’s development, we have instructed the government to provide more advantages, extend competitive incentives and establish a supportive environment for investments in order to facilitate business doing, ensure the diversification of our national economy, achieve sustainable growth and provide more employment opportunities across various economic and service sectors, so that the country could become an attractive investment destination and be more integrated into the global economic system.
To achieve this integration, our government has sought to build a large network of ports, free zones, special economic zones and integrated industrial zones. It also extended support for innovation and entrepreneurship programmes and investment funds, both national and joint funds shared with Arab and friendly countries.
Dear Citizens
Our awareness of local and global challenges, our knowledge of the scope of conflicts and interests in the world and our understanding of the nature and impacts of such challenges and conflicts—all serve to enhance our ability to deal with them, considering them as favorable opportunities to adopt effective policies for establishing peace, developing the economy and shaping strategic partnerships based on economic cooperation and integration, based on our steadfast principles and supreme national interests.
From this perspective, we call upon all countries of the world to join ranks in building a world governed by the values of humanity and justice, a world that respects the sanctities of every nation, its identity, religion, beliefs and moral values, a world in which human dignity is preserved and where human rights are guaranteed, a world whose youth grow up in a form of balance and harmony between its spiritual structure and its material requirements. It is only in this way that we could provide complete care and continuous attention to our children and youth.
We always strive to enhance government efforts and programmes to preserve our moral and ethical heritage and to adopt largescale government and community initiatives that would enable these generations to draw inspiration from our national heritage, arm themselves with its principles and adhere to our moral system.
We also exhort young people to cooperate and unite and develop a solid foundation for success, progress and leadership and to benefit from modern technologies in building their capabilities and utilizing their skills in exchanging knowledge.
Loyal people of Oman
Challenges had never been an obstacle in the way of our ancestors as they strove to establish a state recognized by the world as sovereign and pioneering. Our ancestors’ ability to overcome challenges inspires us to proceed with nation-building, gaining insights from our established civilizational fundamentals in order to raise this great country to the highest position that it deserves.
At the end of our speech, we would like to extend thanks and appreciation to everyone who contributes to building this great nation in all sectors, in all fields and in all areas. We would also like to express our pride and thanks to those who operate in the honourable arenas of glory in all units and formations of military and security sectors.
May Allah the Almighty keep Oman safe and secure, protect its loyal people, endow them with further bounties and prosperity, and assist us with success and guidance.
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