UAE- A confident leap into the future: paper
Date
2/29/2016 1:04:50 AM
(MENAFN- Emirates News Agency (WAM))
ABU DHABI 29th February 2016 (WAM) -- The first meeting of the UAE's newly-reshuffled Cabinet presided over by Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has set the ball rolling for yet another huge round of achievements by setting high goals for growth and prosperity.
The idea is very clearly to expedite progress. As Sheikh Mohammed urged ministers "I would like from you all to present a 100-day work plan especially for the new ministries and those which had many changes. Today countries and governments are measured not by size but by its speed. I want you to be in the field with the people addressing challenges and hammering out solutions and make a real change in government work."
In an editorial on Monday The Gulf Today said "Earlier he world watched in amazement and wondered as to why the UAE established a Ministry of Happiness Tolerance and the Future and why a 22-year-old Minister of Youth was named"
Sheikh Mohammed himself has answered the question. As he put it "The changes reflect what we have learned from events in our region over the past five years. In particular we have learned that failure to respond effectively to the aspirations of young people who represent more than half of the population in Arab countries is like swimming against the tide. Without the energy and optimism of youth societies cannot develop and grow; indeed such societies are doomed."
The UAE is a young country. The leadership invests in them and empowers them precisely because they are the future.
Tolerance is also a key word holding great significance. Sheikh Mohammed has explained perfectly well the power of tolerance. "When the Arab world was tolerant and accepting of others it led the world: from Baghdad to Damascus to Andalusia and farther afield we provided beacons of science knowledge and civilisation because humane values were the basis of our relationships with all civilisations cultures and religions. Even when our ancestors left Andalusia people of other faiths went with them."
Yes tolerance is no mere catchphrase but a quality that the Emiratis cherish and practise. While in the past decade the performance of the UAE government has been a source of pride and full of achievements the beauty about the Emirates is that no one believes in resting on laurels.
The Sharjah-based daily concluded by saying "As Sheikh Mohammed observed in the coming decade there is a need to double the effort and achieve more progress in services and development."
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