There is no conflict between favouring Islamic and traditional values and being more open and international.

As a small country, both in size and population, our future hinges on the quality of our people.

We are considering various ways of making use of our oil and gas downstream industries. This is to be complemented with the import of oil and gas from other sources as raw materials.

The development of our human resources is an area in which we need to do well as it is decisive in determining the success of our diversification programme.

Today, bilateral relations with Britain are excellent, with cooperation in many areas and both countries continuing to work on strengthening these ties.