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Dubai on the first of December
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, “may God protect him,” affirmed that the UAE will proceed under the leadership of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the State, “may God protect him,” in implementing the strategies, plans, and policies established and the projects planned in All fields of comprehensive development, promising new successes and achievements added in the first year of the second fifty.
His Highness said – in a speech addressed to him through the “National Shield” magazine on the occasion of the country’s 51st Union Day – tomorrow, the beginning of a new federal year that we will receive with confidence, optimism, ambition and determination to achieve new achievements and successes, stressing that our Emirati model has recorded a new page in its strength and effectiveness. Its institutions, the merits of its legislation, and the depth and strength of communication between its generations.
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum affirmed that the UAE is closely following global changes, monitoring their developments, and dealing with their effects in a way that enhances our security, stability and sustaining development, relying on ourselves, clinging to our principles and constants, and interacting with our Gulf and Arab partnerships and our network of international relations and friendships, believing that The only way for humanity to overcome the major dilemmas it faces lies in joint action, cooperation, giving priority to sound means, renunciation of violence, combating hatred, acceptance of the other, and respect for his choices, culture and values.
The following is the text of the speech of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, “may God protect him”:
// In the name of of Allah the Merciful
Hey fellow citizens…
Peace, mercy and blessings of God..
I salute you and congratulate you on the occasion of our fifty-first National Day, and I thank with you the Almighty God for the blessings He bestowed upon us, and I ask His honorable face to perpetuate security, stability, progress and prosperity for our homeland and our people.
With every celebration of our National Day, the feelings of love, appreciation and reverence for our father and the source of our renaissance, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, may God rest his soul, intensify in our souls. These feelings extend to his companion, Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum and their brothers, the founding fathers, may God bless them all.
Sheikh Zayed carried our union in his heart, harnessed all his efforts and capabilities to it, and ensured the consolidation of its bases and consolidation of its pillars. His work compass was to glorify the capabilities of our country, and to empower our citizens scientifically, economically, living, cognitively, and culturally.
The rules, principles and work methods laid down by Sheikh Zayed and the founding fathers apply to our awareness and are present in our plans and decisions, and they are the ones that ensured for the march of our country success, achievement, progress, effectiveness, audible voice and respected international standing.
Hey fellow citizens…
In our fifty-first federal year, we were saddened by the departure of our Head of State, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, may God rest his soul, to the abode of survival, so our people demonstrated the depth of their faith and their submission to God’s will and destiny, and reaffirmed the strength of the unity of our home and our feelings in good times and bad, and the affirmation was strengthened by our meeting around my brother, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and pledged allegiance to him as president of our state.
In bidding farewell to Sheikh Khalifa, our people recalled his qualities, wisdom, benevolence, and effective contribution to the process of building and advancing our state. In the pledge of allegiance to Sheikh Mohammed, our people affirmed their confidence in his leadership, and increased reassurance about the present and optimism about the future. As for our Emirati model, it recorded a new page in its strength, the effectiveness of its institutions, and the merit of its legislation. And in the depth and durability of communication between his generations.
And just as the transfer of the flag from Sheikh Zayed to Sheikh Khalifa inaugurated the era of empowerment, the transfer of the flag to His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the State, “may God protect him”, enhances the era of sustainability, leadership and excellence. His record since his early youth is full of great achievements in all the positions he occupied. And the huge responsibilities he assumed in the civil and military fields.
Under the leadership of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, we will proceed with the implementation of the strategies, plans, policies, and projects established in all fields of comprehensive development, rejoicing in the new successes we have achieved and the achievements we added in the first year of the second fifty.
This year, our performance in the face of the Corona pandemic was crowned with success witnessed by everyone near and far.. While the world was struggling to recover from the effects of the pandemic, our country was the most efficient and fastest in overcoming these effects, and the most balanced between human health and its economic interests, which was reflected in the indicators of the country’s development and competitiveness, as our country achieved first place in the world in 156 indicators compared to 121 indicators before the pandemic, and achieved 432 ranks within the top ten compared to 314 before the pandemic.
At the height of the pandemic, we were able to hold Expo 2020 Dubai, and when it concluded at the end of last March, its activities had recorded, throughout its six months, a resounding success that exceeded all estimates and expectations. The volumes of international participation and the number of visitors confirmed the stature of our country, and the efficiency of our organizational capabilities.
In the context of achievements and successes, government performance has made tangible progress and continued its approach to adopting the best that the human mind has produced in the areas of planning, implementation, follow-up and completion of projects and transactions easily, quickly and securely. The government is moving forward with the digital transformation program to develop and strengthen the government digital system, and raise the efficiency of using its infrastructure and digital assets. Here, I extend my sincere thanks to all government employees for their good implementation of plans and projects, and for performing their duties with sincerity, mastery and self-denial.
In continuation of the approach we adopted, we issued early on the budget of the Union 2023-2026. The budget focuses on ambitious plans and projects that look forward to new and promising future horizons, add to the achievements, and improve living standards and quality of life. Like previous cycles, the development and social benefits sector occupies the largest proportion of the budget. For the year 2023, it will reach 39.3%.
And we move forward in empowering the sons and daughters of A
