(MENAFN - The Peninsula) The Peninsula

Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani has said that the National Day's celebrations this year coincide with extraordinary circumstances being experienced by the State of Qatar because of the siege imposed on it.

'This shows the importance of sending messages to the whole world that Qatar is following in the footsteps of its founder in order to achieve the desired goals and objectives by promoting the process of sustainable and comprehensive development and providing leading models in various sectors, the Prime Minister said.

In an exclusive statement to Qatar News Agency (QNA), the Prime Minister and Interior Minister conveyed his greetings and congratulations to Emir

H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and Father Emir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani.

He also congratulated all the citizens and expatriates living in the country, on the occasion of the Qatar National Day. He stressed that the current crisis has strengthened the values of solidarity and cohesion between citizens and expatriates in the face of unjust measures taken by the siege countries.

About the theme of this year's celebration, he said that the slogan: 'Promise of Prosperity and Glory is quoted from the speech of the Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, on July 21, as his first speech after the siege was imposed on Qatar.

He added that this slogan reflects the spirit of challenge, cohesion and mutual trust between the leader and the people. It promotes the values of loyalty to the homeland, solidarity,unity and pride of national identity, and contributes to the advancement of society to face foreign conspiracies against the state.

The Prime Minister said that the siege has exposed the bad intentions and uncivilised behaviour of the siege countries towards Qatar, which stood firm against them and benefited its people who have successfully passed this stage.

He stressed that the position of Qatar has been clear and constant since the beginning of the crisis that dialogue is the only way to resolve it without affecting the sovereignty of the State and allowing interference in its internal affairs.

He thanked, the Emir of Kuwait, H H Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah, for his efforts to resolve the crisis. He also noted the role of all brotherly and friendly countries that sought to resolve the crisis through the support of Kuwaiti mediation.

He reaffirmed that Qatar was able, by God's grace to manage the crisis and overcome its repercussions with wisdom, awareness and knowledge in accordance with well-made plans.

'We were able to face the challenges of the siege and thwart them through strengthening the internal coherence of the society and invest in national energies, continuing development, infrastructure, health and education projects, upgrading the Qatari economy, encouraging local investments, protecting the national product and increasing production through promoting food, water and medicine security projects to achieve self-sufficiency, as well as improving the business environment and increasing the tourist turnout and other steps, he said.

He said that Qatar was engaged active diplomatic activities based on dialogue with all countries, bodies and organisations to clarify the Qatari point of view.

In response to a question about the most important achievements made by the Ministry of Interior during the past year, and the plans for the next phase the Prime Minister and Interior Minister said: 'With Allah's Grace, and in the framework of our strategy and plans to provide the highest levels of security and safety in the country, we have made many achievements to keep abreast of the boom and renaissance witnessed by the State in various fields.

He said one of the most prominent achievements is that the security situation in the country has witnessed a significant decrease in the number of crimes compared to the global level, especially in major crimes reports to the specialised and geographical security agencies, as major crimes (murder, abduction, serious assault and robbery) accounted for only three percent of the total number of criminal offenses committed in 2016.

He pointed out that these successes were made as a result of the tireless efforts of the Ministry of Interior in cooperation with all relevant authorities in the State, putting Qatar on the top of the Middle East and North Africa in the Global Security and Peace Index.

'The State of Qatar has also achieved advanced positions in the regional and global rankings of the Global Competitiveness Index (2014-2017) in the sectors of combating crime, violence and terrorism, public satisfaction and confidence in the services provided by the police force worldwide.

He said that Qatar also ranked first in the world index of the lowest countries in terms of the costs of crime and violence, ranked sixth in the world index of combating organised crime. 'The crimes of drugs smuggling and abuse significantly decreased in the period following the unjust siege compared to the previous period, where seizures of all types of drugs in the State decreased by between 88 to 99.9 percent.

In the service field, the Prime Minister and Interior Minister said the Ministry of Interior has paid great attention to enabling the public to access all the services of the ministry easily in high quality in accordance with international standards through a variety of service outlets.

He pointed out that these efforts have resulted in an increase in the rate of services performed through various geographical and electronic ports with the required accuracy and speed. This was reflected in the level of satisfaction achieved by the services provided by the Ministry during 2016 by 95 percent, referring that the transactions completed in the year up to more than 71 million transactions, a monthly average of 6m transactions, with a daily average of 200,000 equivalent to (140) transaction in almost every minute.

He said for example, 'Matrash2 has contributed to increasing the speed of completion of transactions, saving time and effort for the clients who deals with the ministry.

Regarding human resources, the Prime Minister said that police and security capabilities have been strengthened through continuous training, especially after the opening of the Police College and providing it with distinguished policing cadres that have been widely accepted by the community.

As for the strategy of the Ministry of Interior during the next phase, he said: 'It is derived from our attention to achieve tranquillity and to increase the sense of security and safety for citizens and expatriates living in the country by reducing crime rates to less than their global rates, especially security, economic and electronic crimes in addition to increasing the number of patrols, enhancing the efficiency of the operations room, the speed of receiving and responding to reports, protecting lives and property, the speed of emergency response to achieve security and safety, preparing to face crises and emergencies, preventing and reducing fires, and minimizing the negative effects resulting from it.

With regard to the efforts for providing roads security and safety, the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani said: 'We are working hard to provide security and safety on the roads, to keep pace with the growth rates of the population of the state, and meet its need for development and implementation of major projects.

He pointed out that the Ministry's priorities extend to the development of the system of securing the coasts and borders of the State, especially the long coasts representing 75 percent of its borders, which places greater obligation on the Ministry of the Interior to complete the coastguard fleet and strengthen it with modern naval vessels and equipment to counter infiltration and smuggling attempts particularly drug trafficking and to raise capacity to counter any hostile and subversive acts in light of the changes and transformations taking place in the region.

On the symbolism of Qatar's celebration on this glorious national occasion, the Prime Minister and interior Minister affirmed that the celebration of the National Day of Qatar has great effect on memory of the homeland and embodies the meaning of unity and true brotherhood among its people and brings lofty meanings to the hearts and minds of all citizens and expatriates living on this good land.

The Prime Minister outlined the activities related to security organizations such as Interpol, which refutes the fabrications of the siege countries, pointing to the first conference for the security and safety of major events and the international conference on combating trafficking in human beings and smuggling of migrants, which were held in cooperation between the State of Qatar and the Interpol.

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