Statement By His Majesty Sultan
Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, Sultan And Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam At The 11th Islamic Conference
In Dakar, Republic Of Senegal On 13 March 2008
STATEMENT BY
HIS MAJESTY SULTAN HAJI HASSANAL BOLKIAH
MU’IZZADDIN WADDAULAH, SULTAN AND YANG DI-PERTUAN
OF BRUNEI DARUSSALAM
AT THE 11TH ISLAMIC CONFERENCE
IN DAKAR, REPUBLIC OF SENEGAL
ON 13 MARCH 2008
HIS MAJESTY SULTAN HAJI HASSANAL BOLKIAH
MU’IZZADDIN WADDAULAH, SULTAN AND YANG DI-PERTUAN
OF BRUNEI DARUSSALAM
AT THE 11TH ISLAMIC CONFERENCE
IN DAKAR, REPUBLIC OF SENEGAL
ON 13 MARCH 2008
Mr. President,
Your Majesties,
Your Highnesses,
Your Excellencies,
I wish to extend my warmest greetings and very best wishes to all our fellow members.
I would like to express my great appreciation to your government and people, Mr. President, for receiving us with such friendship and kind hospitality. This is in the finest traditions of the faith we share and we are most grateful.
It is also a very special privilege to be here in Senegal. Your country clearly stands for the values that lie at the heart of our organisation; tolerance and goodwill to all people of all cultures and backgrounds.
We are honoured to be with you and to share our views and our hopes for the future with your people.
Mr. President,
I wish to congratulate Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Abdullah Haji Ahmad Badawi for his leadership of our organisation in the last couple of years. I thank him and his people for all their efforts.
I would also like to express our profound appreciation to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, His Majesty King Abdullah and the people of Saudi Arabia for hosting us at the Third Extraordinary Summit and for the inspiration that he has given to us all in the adoption of the Ten-Year Programme of Action. Our people in Brunei Darussalam have been truly encouraged by the vision it presents; a united ummah dealing with determination and purpose, the many complex challenges facing us all in the 21st century.
It has given us the most precious gift this organisation can offer to Muslims throughout the world in the future. That is why we are commited to doing whatever we can to strengthen that confidence in practical form.
In this, we see the most urgent aspects of the Programme of Action as being those which assist member states to achieve economic and social development. We shall therefore continue to support programmes aimed at alleviating poverty.
Above all, we wish to help in ways that provide governments and their people with the skills, knowledge and means to do this themselves. That, we feel, will not only help the people cope with the challenges of globalization. It will also enable our members to benefit from it and to be a significant player in the global economy and the development of all mankind.
As Senegal has so richly demonstrated, the world needs this contribution if it is to be a world in which every person play a part.
Mr. President,
We are pleased to see an increase in the area of trade between OIC members. We welcome efforts to facilitate greater business transactions as well as encourage more people-to-people contact among us such as through tourism.
This will create greater confidence in what our countries can offer. In practical terms, we much commend the Islamic Development Bank as well as the Islamic Centre for the Development of Trade and the important works being made to involve other stakeholders in development initiatives.
We must continue to encourage such endeavours.
Mr. President,
We also greatly value the targets set by the United Nations in the Millennium Development Goals. We feel that these prove a vital measure of our work in the OIC. Above all, those of our members who are finding it hard to achieve these goals.
All this means that the OIC is clearly aware of its duty to member states to be an organisation that is first and foremost relevant in the minds of our people in their day-to-day lives. That is why we are pleased that we have all agreed that ‘relevance’ means that we keep up with all new developments that affect the people we represent.
This is the thinking behind the work to revise the charter and much has been put into this effort. We thank those involved for their contribution. We believe it should be directed to one over-riding aim. This is to strengthen peace, unity and a sense of common purpose among all members and between us and the rest of the world.
Having said that, however, Mr. President, may I end by once again confirming our continued support for those of our people for whom that aim still appears so far off.
We still watch from a distance the continuing struggle of our brothers in the Palestine. That distance, however, does not separate us in spirit. We offer them our firm solidarity and we shall continue to offer all our support to every effort made to bring their terrible suffering to a just and lasting conclusion.
I thank you once more, Mr. President, and may I express my great appreciation for the honour, privilege and pleasure of being in your country.
Thank you.
Your Majesties,
Your Highnesses,
Your Excellencies,
I wish to extend my warmest greetings and very best wishes to all our fellow members.
I would like to express my great appreciation to your government and people, Mr. President, for receiving us with such friendship and kind hospitality. This is in the finest traditions of the faith we share and we are most grateful.
It is also a very special privilege to be here in Senegal. Your country clearly stands for the values that lie at the heart of our organisation; tolerance and goodwill to all people of all cultures and backgrounds.
We are honoured to be with you and to share our views and our hopes for the future with your people.
Mr. President,
I wish to congratulate Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Abdullah Haji Ahmad Badawi for his leadership of our organisation in the last couple of years. I thank him and his people for all their efforts.
I would also like to express our profound appreciation to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, His Majesty King Abdullah and the people of Saudi Arabia for hosting us at the Third Extraordinary Summit and for the inspiration that he has given to us all in the adoption of the Ten-Year Programme of Action. Our people in Brunei Darussalam have been truly encouraged by the vision it presents; a united ummah dealing with determination and purpose, the many complex challenges facing us all in the 21st century.
It has given us the most precious gift this organisation can offer to Muslims throughout the world in the future. That is why we are commited to doing whatever we can to strengthen that confidence in practical form.
In this, we see the most urgent aspects of the Programme of Action as being those which assist member states to achieve economic and social development. We shall therefore continue to support programmes aimed at alleviating poverty.
Above all, we wish to help in ways that provide governments and their people with the skills, knowledge and means to do this themselves. That, we feel, will not only help the people cope with the challenges of globalization. It will also enable our members to benefit from it and to be a significant player in the global economy and the development of all mankind.
As Senegal has so richly demonstrated, the world needs this contribution if it is to be a world in which every person play a part.
Mr. President,
We are pleased to see an increase in the area of trade between OIC members. We welcome efforts to facilitate greater business transactions as well as encourage more people-to-people contact among us such as through tourism.
This will create greater confidence in what our countries can offer. In practical terms, we much commend the Islamic Development Bank as well as the Islamic Centre for the Development of Trade and the important works being made to involve other stakeholders in development initiatives.
We must continue to encourage such endeavours.
Mr. President,
We also greatly value the targets set by the United Nations in the Millennium Development Goals. We feel that these prove a vital measure of our work in the OIC. Above all, those of our members who are finding it hard to achieve these goals.
All this means that the OIC is clearly aware of its duty to member states to be an organisation that is first and foremost relevant in the minds of our people in their day-to-day lives. That is why we are pleased that we have all agreed that ‘relevance’ means that we keep up with all new developments that affect the people we represent.
This is the thinking behind the work to revise the charter and much has been put into this effort. We thank those involved for their contribution. We believe it should be directed to one over-riding aim. This is to strengthen peace, unity and a sense of common purpose among all members and between us and the rest of the world.
Having said that, however, Mr. President, may I end by once again confirming our continued support for those of our people for whom that aim still appears so far off.
We still watch from a distance the continuing struggle of our brothers in the Palestine. That distance, however, does not separate us in spirit. We offer them our firm solidarity and we shall continue to offer all our support to every effort made to bring their terrible suffering to a just and lasting conclusion.
I thank you once more, Mr. President, and may I express my great appreciation for the honour, privilege and pleasure of being in your country.
Thank you.
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