Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014
Once in a while in a nation’s life comes a time when the gravitas, as well as the dignitas, of enabling change reaches its highest form and the country then enters a new phase of progress. The UAE has had many such moments to its credit and now, it has arrived at another crucially important stage of its evolution — the National Agenda.
A seven-year long programme of game-changing objectives launched in Abu Dhabi by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, the National Agenda will segue with the UAE Vision 2021 and Dubai’s Expo 2020, to pitch the country into a wholly new dimension of excellence by example. The credit for the serendipity of timing goes entirely to the UAE — thanks to the importance it accords to national goal-setting. As such, the National Agenda has been drawn up with a clarity of purpose that renders actionables as its raison d’etre.
With its emphasis on education, economy, health, emiratisation, housing, infrastructure and state services, all key markers of measurable progress, the agenda’s actualisation has been, wisely, invested with infallibility. The measure of quality of a country’s vision lies in its ability to pay attention to grass roots realities while aiming for the skies and in this regard, the National Agenda has been crafted with great attention to detail. For example, while focusing on education, Shaikh Mohammad also speaks of the need to pay heed to the role of nursery education in honing the minds of the next generation.
In another example, while stressing on making the safety of citizens of the UAE the best in the world, he also defines what the response time to emergency calls will be — four minutes.
It is this meld of aspiration and implementation that lies at the core of the National Agenda and also at the heart of the UAE’s goal-setting tradition — a best practice that enables the country to effortlessly deliver on its vision every time. In the time parenthesis of 2020-21, we will witness UAE performing this feat once again.
Gulf News
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