 Good morning everyone. Bonjour. Your Excellencies, distinguished guests and speakers, ladies and gentlemen, it is an honor to address you once again and welcome to Abu Dhabi to the United Arab Emirates. We are thrilled to open the doors for the 16th edition of the World Policy Conference in Abu Dhabi for the third time. This conference has been a cornerstone of our annual calendar for the last three years as it continues to foster and drive forward insightful dialogue and discussion on a wide variety of issues, challenges and opportunities, all led by foremost thinkers, leaders and dear colleagues. Your considerable expertise forged across years of dedicated service in every field imaginable will all assist to create the kind of open, honest and meaningful discussions and spirited debates we have come to expect and enjoy from the World Policy Conference. We must never pass up an opportunity to learn from one another. As we strive every year to do so, the organizers have gathered together an impressive group of attendees and speakers so that we might better understand today's and tomorrow's most pressing issues. It is important that we discuss these topics because as challenging as 2022 proved to be, 2023 has proved even more so. Before we can start though, we must acknowledge the devastating events happening in our region. Since the war on Gaza broke out, we express our deepest condolences for the loss of civilian lives and our thoughts go to those who have lost loved ones as a result of this conflict. Tragically, the loss of civilian lives on Gaza continues to this day. The ongoing damage being perpetrated upon the people has created a humanitarian catastrophe unfolding before our very eyes and real time. We are working relentlessly to reach an immediate and full humanitarian ceasefire so that the life-saving aid could be delivered to the Gaza Strip. Every effort must be made to protect civilians and to immediately put an end to this conflict which we were witnessing as a result of decades-long failure to make progress towards a political horizon that ends the occupation and brings peace for Palestinians and Israelis alike. And as we continue working to stop this war, we cannot ignore the wider context and the necessity to turn down the regional temperature that is approaching a boiling point. The risk of regional spillover and further escalation is real, as is the risk that extremist groups will take advantage of the situation to advance ideologies that will keep us locked in cycles of violence. Therefore, as our region is facing a critical test today, we must also consider the wider problem of extremism and terrorism within and across societies. There is no peace for extremism in the world. It is a scourge that is not home to any particular religion or any country. We must use all available tools and the wisdom occurred through often painful lessons to solve this shared challenge. Ladies and gentlemen, recent events in the Middle East, including the situation on Gaza, other ongoing conflicts and simmering socio-economic cleavages across the region and the wider world requires strong diplomacy and cooperation among us. This is also the case of the war in Ukraine, which continues and battles causing further polarization on the geopolitical front and affecting the global economy and food security. We have largely recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic but there is much concern as there should be on what we will do when the next pandemic occurs. Artificial intelligence has entered the mainstream and impacts our daily lives while climate change makes itself felt more each year. As all this going on in the world continues to undergo systematic change, as new players emerge, the old order comes under strain and calls for more inclusive world order, find more space for discussion. We have our work cut out for us. Despite all of this, there are clear opportunities for all countries and actors to seize if they possess the political will and courage. And so we embark on this path. I want to assure you that the United Arab Emirates will remain a true partner and a bridge builder. We are committed to upholding aspirations of peace and prosperity for all in real and practical way, because in the modern world, crisis have far-reaching implications for all of us. This also applies to the greatest long-term threat of humanity, climate change. Though climate change is often discussed, it is time that we take stock of our progress and make sure we are heading where we need to go. The UAE is proud to host COP28 this year and only a few weeks which underscores the seriousness with which we'll treat this issue. We have striven to be a leader in our efforts but ours is not a solitary effort. COP28 is fundamentally a collective effort and our aims for this conference must cover multiple lines of effort because addressing climate change requires further ambitions each year because solutions are possible. And we must make progress towards an inclusive and results-oriented COP that keeps the 1.5 degrees goal within reach and significantly scales up investment in the coping capacity of vulnerable communities. The struggle to address climate change includes opportunities to alleviate the crisis, including food and water insecurity as well as global health challenges. We have learned just how vulnerable supply chain systems are in previous years, especially for more frequent climate disasters. Addressing food and water insecurity is of paramount importance and in many ways the base for which to build on. And in recognition of the significant impact climate change has on global health issues, this year COP28 will host the first ever Health Day and Climate Health Ministerial at a COP which will introduce an official high-level health initiatives, emphasizing, establishing robust and inclusive health care systems that can withstand the challenges posed by it. Fortunately, we are more equipped than ever to meet these challenges and seize these opportunities both technologically and institutionally. The rapid spread of AI has only just begun to be understood, and AI is only growing more capable. Yet technology can only be developed and realized through an educated workforce. The UAE is naturally focused on building a knowledge-based economy that creates a diverse and inclusive workforce, with special attention to investing in youth and women, whom we believe will be crucial to creating the necessary solutions. Additionally, at the institutional level, we have developed existing and new institutions to assist us. In the UAE, we also believe very strongly in the importance and role of international organizations as they reflect our deeply held belief in the virtue and necessity of cooperation based on shared values to advance cooperation and build up regional and international integration. Regional organizations, new and old, serve an important purpose in helping tackle our pressing issues. Organizations like the African Union and the League of Arab States play a crucial role in their understanding of their perspective contexts, the problems they face, and the best solutions for tomorrow. They furthermore serve a complementary role to traditional international institutions that still fulfill a vital role in cooperation. For despite the changing global order, the UN remains the key institution for international cooperation. At this difficult geopolitical time in our history, polarization is growing within the UN Security Council, making consensus harder and harder to reach. We have witnessed the first hand during our tenure at the Security Council. These past two years, as we have worked to overcome this issue, reform and renewal is needed for the UN. Still, there remains no viable alternative to the UN for achieving cooperation through our shared values. It is these values, ultimately, that define our shared humanity. There are the reasons we recognize the need to combat climate change and to resist falling prey to baser instincts. Tolerance and coexistence are our greatest legacy. Helping each other is not, is in our very nature. It is keeping these ideas in mind that we inaugurate this year's World Policy Conference. We do hope that this year we can spark the types of discussions and generate the ideas that stick with all of the attendees and speakers, that they carry with them what they learned and to their lives and to their work and from there towards a meaningful change. My true best wishes to you for a very successful and a very fruitful conference. Thank you and God bless you all.