Premier’s honours, Bahrain’s pride

During much of the last few decades, news of political turmoil, social instability and economic uncertainty have dominated the profiles of most of the Arab world.  Even today we are still in the mess, far from solving our challenges.

These unfortunate events have concealed the major ongoing developments that have and continue to take place in the Arab world and underestimated the visionary leaders behind the current progress the region is witnessing.  

Arab countries need an economic vision that takes into consideration the wise-use of the limited natural resources available and to upgrade the manpower capacities needed to implement the development projects. 

Experts claim that one of the constraints that have hampered the Arab world’s development is the shortage of visionary leaders that possess the capacity to steer the respective countries towards the desired goals. 

However, one man stands tall among the crowd, who has shown his acumen, statesmanship and visionary leadership to the world and in turn the world has expressed its appreciation by awarding him international recognition for his consistent lifelong commitment to the development of his country. 

He is our beloved His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, who has won dozens of international awards. In fact, he is the only Arab leader to achieve such a distinguished status. 

The list of awards is very long. Among them, we find the 2006 Scroll of Honour Award in urban development and Housing by UN-Habitat, the 2010 UNESCO Avicenna Gold Medal, and the Millennium Development Goals award.  

Yesterday, at a special ceremony held in Cairo, Egypt, the Arab League added another award to the Premier:  ‘The Arab League Shield for Leadership in Arab Development’, for his role in modernizing Bahrain and promoting Arab unity and joint action. The Premier is the first Arab leader to receive the prestigious shield.  

The contributions of the HRH are not restricted to the development of Bahrain. His efforts in highlighting the need for urgent Arab unity as a sole means of defeating outside intervention forces have received appreciation from political observers. 

He was the first among the GCC leaders to propose Gulf unity aimed at defending its identity and maintain its achievement. 

Taking into consideration his visionary leadership, dozens of international awards received and dedicated contributions to the development of Bahrain and beyond, the Premier occupies special position among the Arab leadership. 

Observers of Bahrain’s development agree that the Premier’s wise leadership and vision will remain the blue print of Bahrain for years to come. It will serve as a reference point for any future development.

Side by side with his commitment to Bahrain’s progress, the Premier consistently looks after the welfare of citizens and residents in the Kingdom. 

The witnesses of those thousands of people, who have obtained free international scholarship, received medical attention in foreign land, acquired housing units can be used as barometres to measure the Premier’s generosity.

Finally, all the awards speak one voice: Bahrain is in safe hands, is showing great strides in its development and that all the campaigns to tarnish its image in the international arena are hollow and void. 

Congratulations dear Premier well done!!!