Qatar Statistics Authority, Qatar Development Centre Celebrate National Day/Report

Doha, December 13 (QNA) -On the occasion of Qatar National Day, which falls on the 18th of each year, Qatar Statistics Authority( QSA) celebrates the occasion at its premises and holds a traditional festival and offers folk food, in collaboration with the Social Development Center (SDC) on Thursday, December 13th, 2012 at 10:30am The ceremony which was attended by a number of officials from the QSA and the Social Development Center included folkloric and popular paragraphs, the most important of which is "Arda" dance performed by a number of school students in addition to local popular dishes. In a press statement on this occasion, HE Sheikh Hamad bin Jabor bin Jassim Al Thani, the QSA Chairman said that these celebrations the institutions and bodies, including the QSA is the best proof of community interaction in various segments and its institutions with the day dear to the hearts of everyone. He pointed out that the QSA was keen to organize this ceremonial event involving one of the schools in order to increase awareness and interest in new youth and open their eyes to the future. He said, "Such celebrations reflect the fusion of the people with the leadership, promote as well the community participation and pay more sacrifice and giving to achieve sustainable development." Speaking about the role played by the said authority for the development of national consciousness through the numbers and statistics, HE Sheikh Hamad bin Jabor bin Jassim Al Thani explained that everyone understands the importance of numbers in shaping the future of the country through the learning of the past and understand the present and activating the role of the community in the optimum utilization of these figures and data as "figure reflects the past and present accurately." He pointed out that the authority launched several initiatives to raise awareness for the progress the country is witnessing in the various fields, the most recent of which the workshop for the media men to enhance their role in the analysis and simplify of the numbers and employment and convey them to the ordinary reader with ease and smoothly. This is in addition to other initiatives the authority has cooperated with the educational sectors and schools that serve for the same purpose, HE the QSA Chairman said adding, "We are now in the process of launching a second strategy for QSA 2018/2013 which will include many of these initiatives." HE also pointed out that the overall population censuses in the country paint a clear-cut picture of the state of Qatar in the past and the present and can also predict the future "as much as possible" the matter which further promotes community awareness of the stunning development in the state. Turning to the efforts to create a sustainable development of the country through which the future generations enjoy an advanced standard of living. "These efforts embodied in today's Qatar National Vision 2030 and the National Development Strategy 2011/2016 and other initiatives that are looking forward," HE Sheikh Hamad bin Jabor bin Jassim Al Thani said. He also called upon the youth and all community segments to understand the national and development real meanings of this national day and keeping an eye on the future through continuing to interact and giving for the good of Qatar and its development and evolution. Earlier on December 06, of each year and under the umbrella “Today’s Statistics... Tomorrow's future", the State of Qatar celebrated the National Day of Statistics. This celebration aims to raise awareness in the community of the importance of the reliability of statistics in our daily lives in general, and the importance of statistics in particular to all those in the State to help in the optimal implementation of the National Development Strategy 2011 - 2016, as we progress towards the Vision of Qatar 2030. On this occasion the Qatar Statistical Authority hosted representatives from all parties in the State to display the most important accomplishments and achievements of this past year and the latest issued reports and data, such as a booklet, (Qatar in Figures), which brings together the most important and the most recent statistical data on the state Qatar, including population, economic, and social data. QSA also showcased the results of the Labor Force Survey 2011, which reviews the characteristics of the workforce in the State of Qatar, includes data on families, and also provides updated labor force survey data from 2006 to 2009. It should be noted that the Qatar Statistics Authority is the official source of statistical data and information and was created by Emiri Decree No. 25 of 2007, and is responsible for the production, analysis and dissemination of official, demographic, social, economic, environmental, and other statistics related to the State. The QSA has been playing an important role in the national development process of the State by providing statistical information required to formulate policies based on facts, by coordinating the integration and harmonization of statistics produced by other Government agencies, and by coordinating its work with international and regional organizations by using international concepts and definitions in statistics. The vision of the QSA is to be recognized as the official source of reliable statistical data in Qatar by data users and the international statistical system. (QNA)