“I had been a hidden treasure and I want to be known. Therefore, I created all creatures so that they know me” 

Ladies and Gentlemen 

I am pleased to meet you at the occasion marking the beginning of the second decade of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and community Development Initiative, which now enters a new phase in its development, such a phase will lay down the foundation stone for scientific research and will also be utilized towards building a research partnership which, I hope, is in the making, by now. 

As you are all aware, the Qatar foundation project has, since its inception, been part of a strategic option aiming at making quality education and scientific research the two major pillars of the awaited human development. 

We have put in place all the needful infrastructure centers existing within the education city campuses. We have also created the pertinent institutions of the supreme education council. 

We are now in the process of establishing the research infrastructure which will be a powerful tributary feeding the competent academic centers and upgrading its outputs. This will certainly create an enabling environment for the promotion of a research culture in line with our socio- economic context and requirements. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

We are fully conscious of the statue of scientific research in our Arab world. The Arab Human Development reports are self explanatory in this regard. You will undoubtedly look into this problem which, I hope, you will propose some solutions thereto. This is further buttressed by the phenomenon of the Arab brain’s migration which is indicative of the fact that we are having a real crisis. 

Therefore, what is need is not to diagnose and already known phenomenon, but to work out realistic remedies thereto. 

In the forefront of those solutions is to restore confidence and consideration to the Arab intellect which, thanks to its contributions, turned the Arab cities to their golden era, into centers of attraction for scientists, scholars and knowledge seekers. They were then minarets for multidisciplinary scientific research, but unfortunately, they ended up in the present situation we all know. 

Hadn’t Arabic, in those golden days, been the language of science and the medium of learning among the Greek, Persian and Indian knowledge, and Latin, which become the language of science during the renaissance? Today, we have some concerns that our language, Arabic, would also its time-honored statue gained over the past several centuries. 

As you all know, language reflects the value of what they offer to humanity. Any language can be linked to a vessel and / or a vehicle that transmit people’s cultures and civilizations. Hence, languages may flourish with the progress of scientists and fade away with their weakness. 

Where we are now forming the role of the capable player who stand on equal footing to compete in the world where there can be no relationship for those who lack these capabilities? 

Man is the maker of civilization and history. Civilization is but a moment of transition from history being a function of force to being a function of action. 

Referring to history here is intended to assure you that our societies are qualified, by their cultural backgrounds to host scientific research in its various manifestations. 

Research and contemplating is innate and it is also a responsibility we are entrusted with and born for. 

We are all required to develop a practical strategy inspired by our glorious civilization and by our positive openness to the prerequisites of the revolution of knowledge. 

How can we then achieve that? 

Promoting scientific research and fulfilling our legitimate aspirations to development requires the creation of an enabling environment that allows initiatives, constructive criticism and free thinking. It is also requires diffusing a culture of scientific research among our younger generations since early childhood. 

This can be achieved through the adoption by educational an institution of a clear mission statement that reinforce deductive scientific skills and consolidates innovation and creativity. 

Then come the issue of devoting all potential that gives the opportunity for scientific research to take off; for we can now conceive scientific research capable of leading human development, in the absence of proper and sustainable investments.

Then and only then, will we create an environment that can provide the research intellect of the younger Arab generations with the opportunity to engage in research and scientific exploration. This requires a sense of responsibility, patience and stamina. The intellect is the means to access knowledge. 

This option, of course, is easily side than done, but it actually requires great efforts, a strong will and a real commitment for all parties involved.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I expect this conference to present a specific strategy and a working program with the timeline to take us from one stage to the other. This strategy should effectively enable us to move form a consumptive culture, we have been engrossed in for more than half a century, to a productive and creative culture, so that we can become a positive and constructive player in the universe. 

This strategy is based on the concept of research partnership to which we, in Qatar, are fully committed and are willing to optimally implement. 

I am quite confident that this strategy will meet and equal commitment on your part, being an essential factor in shaping its formula. 

To realize this goal we need to put on the top of our priorities special attention for our scientists who assume a great responsibility in research and development. They, therefore, deserve from us every possible support. 

In view of the foregoing, part of our action plan must include incubation of promising research projects, directly affecting our human capital development and capable of promoting scientific thinking and research culture among the Arab younger generations. 

In this regard, we may consider mechanisms for using the scientific research support fund at the Qatar Foundation within the framework of a strategic partnership between the foundation and the Expatriate Arab Scientists. 

The esteemed participants in this conference could constitute the prime nucleus for such a project. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

Getting out of our present dilemma and keeping a breast with the march of science and technology hinges, in the first place, on our own will rather than on our resources which are no less than those of the developed nations. 

I firmly believe that the optimal investment of our resources should not turns us into consumers of knowledge. it should rather encourage us, as well, to product knowledge. 

Once again, I welcome you in Qatar and assure you that success is attainable.