The Ministry of Development Planning & Statistics received on Wednesday, May 14, 2014 a group of female students from Al-Kawthar Secondary Independent School for Girls in Doha.The visit came within the Ministry’s plan to spread awareness among school students about the goals and objectives of Qatar Vision 2030 (QNV2030) and Qatar’s National Development Strategy (NDS) 2011-2016 as well as introducing the MDPS’ role in providing statistical data, which monitors social, economic and environmental changes  in the State of Qatar . During the visit,  senior officials at  the Ministry presented brief  highlights on the significance of QNV2030 , which aims at transforming Qatar into an advanced country by 2030, capable of sustaining its own development and providing for a high standard of living for all of its people for generations to come. The students were also briefed on the role of the National Development Strategy 2011-2016 in implementing QNV2030 goals, as the NDS provides a practical and realistic guide for reforms in economic, social, cultural, humanitarian and environmental development during the first phase of the vision implementation. The students received detailed description on the ministry's efforts in monitoring the implementation of the NDS through the National Steering Committee and its NDS 2011-2016-Mid-Term Review (MTR), which examines all challenges/obstacles facing the strategy implementation, and address these obstacles to enhance the implementation mechanisms.The concerned officials presented description on the importance of statistics in meeting the users’ needs for data in order to support formulation of evidence-based policies and monitor the progress achieved in the ongoing development while being committed to best international practices through implementation of various surveys throughout the year.The officials also explained to students that the MDPS provides official data on social, demographic, economic and environmental conditions, unifies statistical concepts, definitions and methodologies, and coordinates activities of data producers in Qatar and ensure producing coherent and integrated statistics to be used by local, regional and international concerned agencies.The students visited the Ministry’s  Geographic Information Systems (GIS)Section, which analyses social, economic and environmental statistics according to the statistics’ geographical distribution, as such statistics provides guidance to the decision-makers in formulation of development policies, and mapping plans for identifying locations for public services.The students were also briefed on the Ministry’s  mechanism related to preparation of various statistical data,  such as GDP , Consumer Prices Index (CPI) and Industrial Producers Price Index.