The State Banquet In Honour Of The State Visit Of His Majesty King Abdullah II

Speech By His Majesty Paduka Seri Baginda Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, Sultan And Yang Di-Pertuan Of Brunei Darussalam At The State Banquet In Honour Of The State Visit Of His Majesty King Abdullah II And Her Majesty Queen Rania Of The Hashemite Kingdom Of Jordan At Istana Nurul Iman.
 

SPEECH BY
HIS MAJESTY PADUKA SERI BAGINDA SULTAN
HAJI HASSANAL BOLKIAH MU’IZZADDIN WADDAULAH,
SULTAN AND YANG DI-PERTUAN
OF BRUNEI DARUSSALAM

AT THE STATE BANQUET IN HONOUR
OF THE STATE VISIT OF
HIS MAJESTY KING ABDULLAH II AND
HER MAJESTY QUEEN RANIA
OF THE HASHEMITE KINGDOM OF JORDAN

AT ISTANA NURUL IMAN ON 13 MAY 2008

Assalamu’alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim

Alhamdulillahi Rabbil ‘Aalameen, Wabihee Nasta’eenu ‘Alaa Umuuriddunya Waddeen, Wassalaatu Wassalamu ‘Ala Asyrafil Mursaleen, Sayyidina Muhammaddin, Wa’alaa Aalihiee Wasahbihee Ajma’een, Waba’du.

Your Majesty King Abdullah, The Second King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,

Your Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah,

Your Royal Highnesses,

Your Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen.

It is a very great pleasure to receive Your Majesties in Brunei Darussalam again.

This visit like Your Majesties’s earlier ones to our country offers us a very happy opportunity to share many warm memories.

For me personally, it allows me to pay my respects again to Your Majesty’s dear late father whose courage and dedication to his people was an inspiration to me as a young national leader.

Your Majesty’s visit also brings us together as personal friends with much in common in our preparations and training for life in our faith and in the work we have undertaken together in the great international affairs that link our two countries.
And, perhaps, above all, it is a chance for me to thank Your Majesties and the Jordanian people for the friendship and generous hospitality we have always received when visiting the Hashemite Kingdom.

Your Majesties,

This visit, however, is more than a personal one.

It is a state visit.

That means that it is far more than a reunion of friends.

It is a meeting of the governments and peoples of our two countries.

And, in that sense, we offer Your Majesty’s government and people our close cooperation and warm respect.

Your Majesty,

I believe we share these feelings whenever we meet internatuionally.

But I feel they were given an extra dimension when we attended the Extraordinary Summit of the OIC in Mecca in 2005.

On that great occasion, we and all our fellow leaders agreed to accept the great challenges facing the Muslim Ummah in the 21st century.

We produced an Action Plan that we hoped would be far more than words on paper.

We stated that we would not only face these challenges but that we would meet them successfully.

This has committed us, as fellow members of the OIC, to a crucial common task on behalf of the hundreds of millions of people we represent not just those who share our own faith but our people of all backgrounds and historical experiences.

This is why, Your Majesty, we greatly admire the direction you and your government have set for the Jordanian people.

It is one that places Jordan not only on the path of  modern peace and modern progress but also of international goodwill and tolerance, both in your own country and throughout your region.

In these efforts, Your Majesty, the people of Jordan can be assured of the unwavering support of the government and people of Brunei Darussalam.

We see Your Majesty’s leadership as offering the bridge we are also trying to offer between cultures and faiths, between systems of government and between past and future economic realities.

It is directed at bringing people together rather than widening divisions between them.

This, I feel, is the spirit of the Summit in Mecca given real, living form.

It is why we greatly respect the Hashemite Kingdom’s voice in the affairs of its region.

Your Majesties,

The work the people of Jordan are undertaking is one that we ourselves can greatly appreciate.

Like us, they have embraced globalisation.

They see no conflict between their past and the future they wish to share with all people.

Perhaps most important aspects of Your Majesty’s reign have been the economic planning that your government and people have undertaken.

Like Brunei Darussalam, Jordan has recognised the need to do more than passively witness modern change taking place.

It has taken bold steps to help its people take part in that change and try to shape it in their own image.

This has led to a programme of economic diversification which reflects our own in many ways.

By this, I mean the important of a vital public-private sector partnership a new role for traditional natural resources, the promotion of new industries, the need for renewable energy supplies and the acceptance of international free trade.

These are the hallmarks of a new modern economy.
 
And many nations share these goals.

The people of Jordan, however, are seeking to combine them in a special form of development.

It is one that honours a great and glorious past.

It acknowledges the unique place their land has in the history of civilisation.

It is one that preserves its magnificent natural wonders.

And it is one that supports the diverse culture of today through its talented writers, artists and musicians.

These are noble tasks, Your Majesty.

They lie at the heart of the Mecca Plan of Action.

And we admire the people of Jordan for undertaking them.

Even though we are at opposite ends of our great continents we hope that the future will bring continued opportunities for us to add substance to our cooperation.

In this sense, Your Majesty, this visit may be officially and formally a state visit, but I assure you that it is also in every sense a meeting of two peoples who offer each other lasting friendship, cooperation and goodwill.

Thank you.

Wabillahit Taufiq Walhidayah Wassalamu’alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.