Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on Tuesday called on the youth of the Gulf state to pursue more diverse career paths to secure the country’s future prosperity.
In a speech at the opening of the 44th session of the Advisory Council, he told the younger generation: “Qatar cannot be built without you.”
He said in comments published by Qatar News Agency that while the country cannot dispense with the hundreds of thousands of migrant workers, Qatari nationals must widen their view when choosing careers to ensure talent gaps are filled.
His comments come as all Gulf states continue to try to tackle the shortage of nationals entering the private sector, preferring instead to take government jobs which generally come with higher salaries and more flexible hours.
“It (Qatar) cannot be built on a limited number of professions,” he said, adding that while important sector such as security, army, the police, planning, management, engineering, medicine and scientific research are in need of young Qatari talent, the younger gernation needs to broaden its occupational horizons. “Qatari youth must turn to all specialties and take their homeland into account when taking decisions.”
He added that citizenship is not a set of privileges, but first and foremost is a sense of belonging to the homeland.
“A citizen has the right to benefit from the wealth of his country. But the citizen must ask himself from time to time, what did I give for my country and my community? What are the best ways to be useful? And what can I do to contribute to the national wealth of my country so that future generations can also benefit,” the Emir said.
Sheikh Tamim also urged an end to wasteful government spending, corruption and bureaucracy that inhibits entrepreneurship.
“We will not tolerate financial and administrative corruption, or abuse of public positions for private purposes, or abandoning professional standards for a personal interest,” he said.
Despite the instability in the Middle East, and the sharp drop in the oil and gas prices, the Emir also said in the speech that Qatar’s economy had maintained a good growth rate through 2014.
He also said that the recent continuous decline in energy prices “requires alertness”, adding: “I stress that it requires caution and alertness but not fear. Differentiation here is important, alertness is realistic and useful in public policies, but fear is not realistic and harmful, and does not help in drawing up the right policies, as it spreads the sort of climates that negatively impact the economy and investment, and hence becomes like a false self-fulfilling prophecy.
“Caution must prompt us to be frank with each other, to band together in the face of challenges, and to be vigilant in rejecting the two extreme trends: the unjustified panic on the one hand, and the self-delusion that is reflected in embellishing reality for self-satisfaction, on the other hand.”
The Emir said that the country would continue on its path laid out in the Qatar National Vision 2030 which aims at transforming Qatar into an “advanced country, capable of achieving sustainable development and ensuring the continuation of a decent living standard for its people, for generations to come, by seeking to develop a diversified economy”.
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