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   resources by adopting an effective policy for   
   science, technology and creation.   
      
   On the level of training, many public and private   
   institutes have been created, most notably the   
   Higher Institute for Public Administration and the   
   Higher Institute for Business Management.   
   Tremendous efforts have been made for the   
   development of and investment in human resources.   
   International expertise was recruited to assist in   
   this process.  We are trying to achieve more in   
   this regard so that continuing training and skill   
   acquisition become a major pillar in our government   
   plans.   
      
   On the political level, we have taken a number of   
   steps for the development of the political   
   structure by developing our democratic experience   
   towards widening political participation, and   
   giving the opportunity to all national energies to   
   contribute to national building.  The charter of   
   the National Progressive Front was developed and   
   its work activated, the field was widely opened for   
   the NPF parties to play their roles in building the   
   state.  These parties started publishing their own   
   newspapers and opened branches in the governorates.   
   New parties have also joined the NPF and enriched   
   its experience.   
      
   The decision taken by the 10th regional conference   
   of the Baath party constituted a starting point   
   towards activating the people’s and government’s   
   performance, particularly in relation to its   
   recommendations to widen political participation,   
   pass the media law and combat corruption.  These   
   steps in the filed of political development,   
   important as they are, remain less than our   
   aspirations.  Numerous circumstances hindered some   
   of the political developments which we wanted to   
   achieve.  Our supreme objective, amidst the chaos   
   certain parties have been exporting to our region -   
   and which surrounds us now - was to preserve the   
   safety and security of our citizens and maintain   
   the stability our people enjoys.  These are not   
   only vital requirements for any society, but the   
   main pillars of national sovereignty, dignity,   
   prosperity and development.   
      
   We definitely have the will to develop our   
   political experience based on our conviction that   
   we should make it possible for all to play their   
   roles and enrich the atmosphere of freedom and   
   democracy.  We strongly believe that democracy is   
   not one sided, it is an integrated set of aspects   
   which must be developed together in a manner that   
   responds to the people’s characteristics and needs.   
   It is not an objective by itself, it is rather an   
   instrument for development and prosperity.  This   
   instrument needs careful preparation and needs the   
   appropriate circumstances which could realize this   
   objective.  Without these requirements it looses   
   its substance as a building instrument.  This is   
   what we have been trying to achieve.  We are   
   looking forward to the achievement of a number of   
   developments in the next phase, which we find   
   extremely important in consolidating our national   
   structure.  At the forefront of these measures   
   comes the passing of a political party law which   
   enhances political participation and democratic   
   life, and creating a Shura council which will   
   contribute to the legislative process and enlarge   
   the decision making circle.  We are in the process   
   of developing the local administration law towards   
   more decentralization and in a manner that insures   
   the participation of local communities in the   
   things which concern them, heightens the sense   
   responsibility and insures effectiveness and   
   efficiency of drawing and implementing plans.  We   
   are also trying to find an objective solution to   
   the 1962 census which a number of circumstances   
   have prevented us from concluding.   
      
   Sisters and brothers,   
      
   What I have mentioned in relation to the actions   
   and decisions we have taken is part of what has   
   been achieved during the past few years which were   
   full of work and achievement, the impacts of which   
   are abundantly clear on the ground in terms of   
   developments which covered the different aspects of   
   services and our economic and social life.  In   
   total they have provided us with the solid base for   
   improving our people’s living conditions, fortified   
   our national stability, consolidated our capacities   
   for steadfastness and confrontation, and formed the   
   solid grounds on which we have based our national   
   decisions which aim at protecting our independence   
   and sovereignty.  Most importantly, what has been   
   achieved is the starting point towards the future.   
      
   These achievements do not make us overlook what has   
   not been achieved; and what we have implemented   
   does not convince us that we have done all what we   
   have planned for.  There are things which we could   
   not achieve because of the events which have   
   surrounded us, the challenges which required quick   
   and urgent responses and difficulties which we did   
   not have the subjective and objective capacities to   
   overcome.  Some of these circumstances are related   
   to the extreme pressures put on our country and   
   attempts to interfere in our domestic affairs with   
   the objective of breaking our will and pushing us   
   to abandon our rights and principles.  This made us   
   rearrange a number of our priorities and mobilize a   
   large amount of our resources to confront.  Our   
   people bore the brunt of these circumstances and   
   provided patiently and determinedly everything they   
   have in order to maintain their country’s honour   
   and dignity.   
      
   Some of these difficulties are related to us and to   
   our internal factors. At the forefront of these   
   difficulties comes the existing administrative   
   structure which has not developed sufficiently to   
   assimilate the required tasks, and the lack of staff   
   required to carry out these tasks  effectively and   
   efficiently. One of the major problems we faced   
   was the weakness of institutional work, the lack of   
   a methodology for such work, the overlapping of responsibilities   
   and a receding sense of incentive for some people to carry out   
   what is required of them. In addition to all that, there is a   
   lack of clarity in certain laws and decisions which were passed   
   hastily without being sufficiently and adequately studied, and   
   sometimes these are not implemented in a serious and responsible   
   manner. Statistics and data bases are also weak which has an   
   impact on the accuracy of performance and projection analysis.   
   The weakness also applies to review and assessment mechanisms.   
   On top of all that came the accelerating population growth which   
   weighs heavily on us and on our plans. We also had to think   
   carefully of the prevalent cultural structure, the mentality   
   which controls the behaviour of some of us and the negative   
   traditions which do not encourage creativity and taking the   
   initiative and do not promote respecting the values of   
   collective work and the team spirit. This leads to an   
   absence of the culture of work for many people, which   
   obstructed professional and mental involvement in the   
   modernizing project we are implementing.   
      
   Despite all that, we have the determination to   
   address all gaps and overcome all the weaknesses   
   which characterized certain aspects of our   
   performance.  We have great ambitions to achieve   
   development and prosperity in the different aspects   
   of our life.  That is why we started the major   
   steps of our development project at the beginning   
   of 2006; I mean the 10th five year plan which we   
   are doing our best to implement through the   
   involvement of all social sections and national   
   institutions.  It is a comprehensive development   
      
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