QNA
Today, the State of Qatar, is marking the National Day (ND), which falls on December 18 each year, under the slogan “Ten years embraced glory and arts, Obtained all excellence and manliness .. The path to excellence is difficult”.
This poetic line is of the Founder Sheikh Jassim bin Mohammed bin Thani, in which he talked about his martyr son Sheikh Joaan, enumerating his venerations, as he was of a young age, a student of knowledge, and a cavalier knight, and these are the values that were brought up in his Qatari environment. The slogan expresses the faith of successive generations of Qatari youth, that the path of the excellency is difficult, and to reach it you will need morality and science.
On this day in the glorious history of Qatar, we remember the biography of the founder, Sheikh Jassim bin Mohammed bin Thani, who, approximately 14o years ago, upon assuming the reins of power in the country (on December 18, 1878), laid down the foundations of our modern state, preserved its sovereignty, dignity of its people, and made Qatar, a united, coherent and independent country with strong foundations values and principles on which it has been founded.
Qatar went on the paths of glory, achieving accomplishments, caring for rights, helping the needy, championing the oppressed, observing the right of neighborliness, adhering to values and morals, offering the world a bright example of a safe and stable country capable of achieving the highest levels of development, and providing the finest quality of life for its people and residents.
Perhaps the most prominent progress of the country’s achievements this year is the political, economic, military and defense successes achieved by its foreign relations and strategic alliances open to various countries and peoples with active and calm diplomacy based on mutual respect and common interests.
The year 2019 was marked by H H the Amir’s foreign visits that included Korea, Japan, China, Kuwait, Austria, Rwanda, Nigeria, Pakistan, the United States, France, and Britain.
In an affirmation of the respect and appreciation of the leaders of the brotherly and friendly countries of the State of Qatar, the heads of each of Iraq, Sudan, Somalia, Bulgaria, Botswana, Palestine, Angola, Gambia, Brazil, Rwanda, Armenia, Turkey, and Malaysia visited Qatar. The supreme country interests and bilateral relations with these countries were at the top of the agenda of the discussions that took place during these visits.
Within the framework of external interaction, H H the Amir, participated in the 2019 Arab Economic and Social Development Summit in Beirut and the Arab Summit in Tunisia. His Highness also participated in the Munich Security Conference, and the 5th Summit of the Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures Conference in Asia held in Kyrgyzstan, and in the meetings of the General Session of the 134th IOC held in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Last September, H H the Amir, participated in the opening session of the general discussion of the 74th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 74) in New York, and His Highness delivered a speech,
in which he tackled the most prominent international issues on the agenda of the session, the positions of the State of Qatar regarding it and its vision towards the various challenges and current crises.
His Highness pointed out that the State of Qatar announced the provision of support for the basic resources of the United Nations in the amount of USD 500 million.
H H the Amir in New York also participated in the session of the Alliance on Financing Climate Activities and Carbon Pricing, and delivered a speech which dealt with the phenomenon of climate change as one of the serious challenges of our time, and an ever increasing problem.
His Highness affirmed Qatars as a host to the FIFA World Cup in 2022, to organize an environmentally friendly championship, and the first “Carbon neutral” championship by using solar energy in stadiums, and using energy and water-saving cooling and lighting technology.
H H the Amir also announced the State of Qatars contribution of USD 100 million to support small island developing states and least developed countries to deal with climate change, natural hazards and environmental challenges, and build capacity to face their devastating effects. In December, and interacting with international concerns, H H the Amir and President of the Republic of Rwanda, H E Paul Kagame, presented the prizes of the fourth edition of “Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani Anti-Corruption Excellence Award”, at a ceremony held in the Rwandan capital Kigali.
The State has been able to achieve tangible achievements in record time as a result of good planning and following a tight strategy in which all the influential sectors in the country are integrated, and it succeeded in overcoming the effects of the unfair blockade imposed for the third year in a row and after it became more powerful, preventive and coherent, and more self-reliant, and achieved the highest rates of economic growth, while major projects and projects related to the 2022 World Cup are being completed, infrastructure development in the free, economic, industrial and logistical areas has taken place, and the national economy has witnessed a great recovery with the opening of more than 800 Qatari companies in the field of manufacturing food, service and manufacturing industries, as well as the expansion of several industrial cities to provide land for more investment projects and promising opportunities in various sectors.
The country’s economic wheel is supported by Qatar Airways fleet, which includes more than 250 aircraft connecting Qatar through Hamad International Airport ( HIA) to more than 160 destinations around the world, likewise, Hamad Port, which is one of the largest ports in the Middle East, and which contributed to connecting Qatar to more than 40 ports on the continents of the world.
HIA announced that it received 10.7 million passengers during the third quarter of 2019, making it the busiest quarter that the airport has witnessed so far, while Hamad Port received this year more than three thousand seven hundred ships, and more than one million and two hundred thousand containers.
The Port entered the Guinness World Records, as the deepest artificial basin being constructed on the surface of the earth.
H H the Amir witnessed a live air show of the Rafale aircraft carried out by the pilots of the Qatari Amiri Air Force upon arrival at Dukhan Airbase.
Last January, H H the Amir sponsored the graduation ceremony for the first batch of police college candidates. His Highness also witnessed the graduation ceremony of the sixth batch of Al-Zaeem Air College candidates, and the 14th batch graduation ceremony for Ahmed bin Mohammed Military College candidates.
Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani, inaugurated Al Daayen Naval Base in the Sumaysimah region in northern Qatar.
The State of Qatar received the first batch of Apache - QA aircraft, during a ceremony held at the headquarters of Boeing Defense Systems in Arizona, USA. The Qatari Amiri Naval and Air Force carried out several joint exercises with the forces of a number of brotherly and friendly countries.
In the context of the States interest in the educational process, H H the Amir honored, last May, a ceremony honoring the 2019 batch of the 787 graduates of Education City universities, and His Highness honored the distinguished graduates from the forty-second batch of Qatar University students, while H H Sheikha Jawaher bint Hamad bin Suhaim Al Thani, wife of H H the Amir, honored the graduation ceremony for female students from the same class in a separate ceremony.
In the public health sector, the Ministry of Public Health is keen to adopt the highest international quality standards in its services for patients, which enables them to reach the care they need in a timely manner. Eight new public and specialized hospitals have been opened since 2016, including Sidra Medical Center, which specializes in providing health care for women and children and the new Trauma and Emergency Center, which is considered one of the largest emergency centers in the region, in addition to that the opening of ten primary health care centers, of which seven centers belong to the Primary Health Care Corporation, in addition to three health centers for single males, managed by Qatar Red Crescent based on an agreement with the Ministry of Public Health.
The State of Qatar ranked fifth in the world in the health index issued by Legatum Institute and its head office in London, thanks to the improvement of life expectancy, health results for patients and the high rate of investment in the level of health infrastructure.
Within the framework of construction and infrastructure projects, HH the Amir, during March, inaugurated Umm Al Houl Power Station, which has production capacity of 136 million gallons of water per day, and 520 megawatts of electricity, at an estimated cost of approximately QR 11 billion, and the station represents a qualitative addition and a strong support to achieve water and electrical security, as it will secure 30 percent of the country’s electricity needs, and 40 percent of its desalinated water needs.
Under the guidance of H H the Amir, the name of H H Amir of the State of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, was launched on the “Axis Road” project, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister and Minister of Interior H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani, in the presence of
H H Sheikh Nasser Al Muhammad Al Ahmad Al Sabah, representative of
H H the Amir of the State of Kuwait at a ceremony held at the Sheraton Hotel.
In 2019, Qatar witnessed a major development in the energy sector that will enhance the strength of the Qatari economy and Qatar’s position in the global natural gas market. Minister of State for Energy Affairs and President & CEO of Qatar Petroleum H E Saad bin Sherida Al Kaabi announced that the State of Qatar will raise the capacity of LNG production to 126 million tons annually, which is an increase of 64 percent from the current production level of 77 million tons annually. He said that the technical tests showed that the quantities of proven gas contained in the North field exceed 1760 trillion cubic feet of gas, in addition to more than 70 billion barrels of condensate, and huge quantities of liquefied petroleum gas, ethane, and helium gas, which are very important results, that have positive dimensions to push the Qatari gas industry to new heights. Qatar Petroleum has also issued a call for bids to build up to more than 100 LNG tankers to cover its future needs.
Last March, H H the Amir inaugurated the National Museum of Qatar in its new building. The National Museum of Qatar, thanks to its desert rose-inspired design, is one of the distinctive tourist destinations in Qatar and the region.
Furthermore, Qatar ranked third in the world in economic performance, besides, Qatar ranked 29th in the world and second in the Arab world out of 141 countries in the Global Competitiveness Index.
Qatar was among the top 10 countries in many indicators, including the efficiency of the legal framework, the readiness of communications and information technology, the skills of graduates, the skills of the workforce in the future, the abundance of capital, and the financing of small and medium-sized companies. Qatar was also among the world leaders in terms of protecting property rights, the performance of the state’s public sector, the quality of road infrastructure and air freight, the quality of seaport services, and communications and information technology services.
Qatar ranked seventh in the world with the Specter Index of the best investment destinations in the world in 2019.
Qatar continued its global excellence according to the global security indicators for 2019 by obtaining the first Arab and global position in terms of security and safety among 118 countries according to the global annual report of the crime index for 2019. The excellence of Qatar in this indicator comes as a result of the continuous efforts of the Ministry of Interior within the framework of its vision to achieve the highest levels of security and stability in society and to protect lives and property, based on its comprehensive strategy in line with Qatar National Vision 2030.
Also, Qatar ranked 33rd globally in the Corruption Perceptions Index for the past year out of 180 countries included in the index, where Qatar has achieved 62 points, while more than two-thirds of countries have obtained less than 50 points in the index for this year.
In the sports field, H H the Amir chaired, in 2019, three meetings of the Board of Directors of the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC), held at the Amiri Diwan, to follow up the development of work in all projects of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
The year was full of Qatari sporting achievements, the most prominent of which was the victory of the Qatari national football team in the Asian Cup, and the victory of many Qatari champions of cups and medals of all kinds in international competitions and championships.
Qatar organized the World Athletics Championships Doha 2019, which was held for the first time in the Middle East and the ANOC World Beach Games 2019 in its first edition. Also, Qatar organized the 24th Arabian Gulf Cup.
On September 27, the Fath Al Khair 4 marine voyage returned to Doha, after a nearly 80-day cruise that included Turkey, Greece, Albania, Croatia, and Malta to introduce Qatar’s civilization and maritime heritage and promote Qatar’s hosting of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Qatar and its official and civil charitable organizations continued to extend their hands with generous giving, initiatives and participation in providing relief to millions of people from brotherly and friendly countries, providing humanitarian needs for the afflicted, and alleviating the suffering of the homeless due to wars and natural disasters. Qatar directed its support to the Palestinians in besieged Gaza, Jerusalem, the West Bank, and refugee camps, as well as people in Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Afghanistan, and the Rohingya.
