 Your Majesty, it is with great pleasure to welcome you back to the annual meeting here in Davos. You have here many friends. I would like to thank you for your personal support to the Forum over so many years. Jordan is a great partner of the World Economic Forum and it is also a key voice for moderation and peace in the region. Your Majesty, your country just held important legislative elections, which are part of a process of reforms for driving positive political, economic and social outcomes for all Jordanians. I would like to congratulate you on this effort and the reform process overall, as the Arab world is clearly undergoing a fundamental transformation which requires bold and daring leadership. Please be assured that the World Economic Forum and our global community assembled here are fully committed to supporting Jordan and its processes of reform, which are critical not only for your own country but for the entire region. For security and geopolitical stability in the Middle East, Jordan's policies and actions are equally important and impactful. Together with Lebanon and Turkey, your country is the greatest recipient of Syrian refugees. And as Your Majesty just told me, you had to welcome, if I may say so, alone during the last three days, over 20,000 refugees. You may imagine what this means in terms of humanitarian and social consequences. Your Majesty, at the time of prolonged and dangerous stalemate in relations between Palestinians and Israelis, I would like to mention also a unique role Jordan has played and continues to play in reviving the prospects for peace through diplomacy and mediation. And in this respect, Your Majesty, I'm delighted that we will return to the Dead Sea in Jordan under your leadership on May 24th to 26th this year with our next World Economic Forum on the Middle East and North Africa. At the heart of this meeting will be the imperative for employment, entrepreneurship, and human development, which are so important for Jordan and the region as a whole. Your Majesty, welcome back to the annual meeting, and I look forward to our collaboration and your hospitality at the Dead Sea in May. Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim. Thank you, Professor, and thank you all. It is a pleasure to be here once again, and I wanted to take the opportunity to thank Professor Schwab for the direction of the World Events has more and more borne out his insights when he founded this forum. This was never a gathering about ideas alone. It was and is a forum for action. So my friends, these last years have seen turmoil and challenge across the globe and no less than in my region. Political and economic systems on every continent have been put under the microscope. People are looking for answers, and the time for answers is now. Nothing is more counterproductive, nothing is more dangerous than the old attitude of let's wait and see. Today we hear some say, wait and see about the two-state settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. They say the times are too uncertain, there are other priorities, let's just wait. But today's unprecedented threats to regional and global stability and security don't wait. We hear some say, wait and see about the Arab Spring. They say there are too many unknowns, or they fear they won't own the game. But today no one can afford to sit on the sidelines of change. Our citizens want their goals now, and that means moving forward together from the old status quo to a new dynamic from protest to stakeholder, from self-interest to public interest. Thank you. We hear some in the West look at the transformations in the Arab world and say, let's wait for the dust to settle. And let's see if democracy takes its course. But pluralism, diversity and respect for the other need proactive support. If those who are striving to do the right thing are left to stand alone, yesterday's oppressive regimes may simply end up being replaced by new, possibly worse oppression. Determined engagement is needed to foster equality, the rule of law, and respect for the universal, indivisible rights of all peoples. Last we hear some in the global business community. Say, we will wait and see. But success in my region cannot afford to wait. Businesses and investors that get in now will lead and send a powerful message to future consumers and leaders that we are with you on the ground building the future. And my friends, Jordan remains a secure haven at the heart of the region because it rejected the wait-and-see approach and tackles its challenges. We have seen that this week in Jordan, landmark parliamentary elections, voters chose 150 members of parliament from a record number of candidates, including record numbers of women candidates as well. These elections reflect a simple recognition. Every citizen must be empowered as a stakeholder if our nation is to achieve its full potential. The Arab Spring gave Jordan an opportunity to renew the momentum of change. And what we seek is a level, broad reform path based on the rule of law. Comprehensive, consensus-based change aims at strengthening representation, enhancing the separation of powers, and protecting civil rights and freedoms, especially for women and minorities. Consultations with parliament will start in the next few days for the designation of the new Prime Minister. Serious policy decisions are on the leadership agenda, job creation, energy services, further political reform. But I want to say that in the most profound sense, it is our citizens who are the first leaders. Their civic responsibility did not end on Wednesday when ballots were cast. Their continuous engagement is essential to hold parliament and government accountable, to expand Jordan's political party culture, and to keep political and economic reform real. And in the economy, we have important strengths to build on. The central position in the region with access to over one billion consumers worldwide, a diverse and innovative workforce, strength and safeguards against corruption, investment-friendly policies, and legislation. For more than a decade, economic reforms along with responsible macroeconomic management have encouraged new and expanding industry sectors. The ICT, for example, has grown in little more than a decade from seedling enterprises to an industry that creates and manages 75% of all Arab language internet content from the region. Across all sectors, there's been a four-fold increase in exports since 2001. For capital GDP has more than doubled, and we are open for business, open to innovation, and open to entrepreneurial initiatives. Are we satisfied with our progress? No. The global economic crisis has hit all of us. In Jordan, our young people, the vast majority of the population, suffer unacceptable levels of unemployment. The vast markets due to the crisis in Syria and the energy crisis cost our Treasury heavily. But Jordan's challenge have only made us more determined, and we are making the tough decisions for a safe and prosperous future. Let me add that even as our people struggle with hardships, and notwithstanding our limited natural resources, Jordan is hosting almost 300,000 Syrian refugees. Regarding the situation, I urge once more a stepped up world response to the Syrian crisis. The weakest refugees are struggling now just to survive this year's harsh winter. More international support is desperately needed. And here I cannot emphasize enough the challenges that we're all facing, both in Jordan and Lebanon, and it's only going to get worse. What we're asking from the international community is not just to help us with the refugee problems and their challenges as they face this harsh winter, but also stockpiling in Jordan so that we can move supplies across the borders to keep people in place and to make sure from lessons learned in other countries where they have gone through this type of situation that radicalism doesn't come in and take over those communities. So I implore all of you to try and come to the aid of Jordan and Lebanon doing this harsh challenge. Also the international community must come together now decisively to end the bloodshed. And what is needed is a real and inclusive transition plan, one that guarantees the country's unity and territorial integrity by giving all Syrians a stake in their country's future. Anything else invites fragmentation, extremist power grabs, and more conflict and instability, with a disastrous impact on the region and world. Let's not wait and see. The time to act is now. My friends, the entire world is watching our region move into a new era and a critical shortfall at the heart of the region remains the continued denial of Palestinians' right to their own future. For decades Jordan has taken risks for peace because we know that the risks of continued conflict are much, much worse. In my region, long-term security demands an end to a crisis. However, people voted in this week's Israeli elections, peace and security must be the deepest wish of all Israelis. The Arab Peace Initiative provides a path, a two-state settlement giving both sides what they need and want, with an independent sovereign and viable Palestine, and a secure Israel-enjoying peace with all its neighbors and normal relations with all Arab states. The Arab Spring cried out for respect for human dignity, not for some, but for all. There is no time left for Israel to play the waiting game. And I've called on the international community to join Jordan in breaking the impasse and pressing for active negotiations to end this conflict once and for all. We must act while there's still a chance. My friends here at the World Economic Forum and beyond, global leaders have a unique ability to make a difference, to cross the borders that divide people, to negotiate difficult paths, to help a new generation experience the reality of global justice and opportunity. It is to continue this important work that I warmly invite all of you to the World Economic Forum on the Middle East and North Africa in May at the Dead Sea. The challenges that our region faces have also redoubled the opportunities to forge new partnerships, to stimulate employment, foster entrepreneurship, and build infrastructure. At the World Economic Forum in Jordan, you'll find a welcome to that future. Don't wait, and I'm looking forward to seeing you all there. Thank you very much. Thank you so much, Your Majesty. Just so you know what the circumstances are, His Majesty has agreed very kindly to have a short conversation in the balance of his time. It will be a brief conversation, but as always with the King of Jordan, it will be, I think, quite illuminating. Let me ask you, Your Majesty, when you look at the Arab Spring, is it fair to draw the inference at this point in the game that repression has not worked but bribery has? By which I mean to say the states that attempted repression are either the regimes that are either gone or teetering like Syria. But those that have large oil wealth were able to provide patronage of various kinds, particularly in the Gulf, have all survived. Well, I think you have to take a step back and look at history of how the Middle East was divided up. And this is one of the problems we face in political reforms in Jordan. We're still living in the shadows of the Cold War. And during the Cold War, it was more sort of, let's say, the monarchies that were allied to the West and the republics that were allied to the Soviet Union. And so maybe you've seen the reaction more in the republics than you've had in sort of the countries that are either emirates or monarchies. But this is what's maybe the transition to political reform a bit more difficult. For example, in my country, 90% of the people are still adverse of being aligned to political parties. So although we've had this wonderful parliament outcome of 56% plus way beyond, I think, anybody's expectations, the challenge now, and I see in Jordan specifically, the hard work for us is actually creating that political party culture where people, the word is hezeb in Arabic and for Jordanians to be part of a hezeb is still instinctively something wrong. So the challenge that we have over the next four years is actually the hard work. I think the easiest part of Arab Spring over the past year and a half is behind us. Today, the challenge from today in creating this parliament is trying to create parties with political party platforms, doctrines. What does it mean for you to stand on health issues, education, services, taxes? That's going to be the real challenge. And I don't think that's just Jordan specific. Even the republics are facing these problems as they've gone through these revolutions. When you look at these elections that were just held, you're absolutely right. You had 56% turnout for the first time you allowed international monitors in. Second time. Second time. But this was fairly extensive. Absolutely. And yet the Muslim Brotherhood has said they will boycott it. They intend on street protests. How serious a problem is that? In actual fact, if you're living in Jordan today, they will tell you that is not a serious problem whatsoever. I think the weakest standing of any group of Muslim Brotherhood in any countries of the Middle East is actually in Jordan. At the beginning, the doubters out there and the opposition didn't think that anybody would register to vote. We had an unprecedented registration, 70%, which is much higher than any other country in the Middle East. Again, the turnout of 56.6% yesterday was way beyond anybody's expectations. And we had the highest amount of people registered to run into elections. So I think if you look at those three issues, then we and the people have actually moved on. The challenge is for me, I believe that the Muslim Brotherhood are a part of our society, an important part of our society. And my message has been to them over the past several days is that whatever decisions that we all took, whatever positions we all took, that's all in the past. Bygones be bygones. I think if we're going to move a political reform in the future, it's going to be inclusive. Everybody has to have a stake in it. So the challenge is how do I reach out to the oppositions that boycott it that actually ended up being very small in numbers. But we want them to be part of this process because I think anybody who's left out in the cold, it just doesn't vote well for any of us. So the next change is how do we or challenges, how do they come in over the next four years and reinvent themselves to be quite honest? You could live with a Muslim Brotherhood Prime Minister? I don't think that would happen by the right of the people. Again, if you look even at Egyptian elections and see how many people registered and how many people voted, the Muslim Brotherhoods that ran for elections there was only about 12% of the country. And I think that that was the initial assessment in Jordan but seeing how unfortunately they stayed in the street without coming up with constructive ways of moving reform forward, their numbers I think are historically all-time low in Jordan. But I believe that they're still part of the mechanism and how do we reintroduce them into the reform aspects of the future? What would you like to see happen in Syria? You are facing an extraordinary crisis and I think people need to remember you have now 300,000 refugees from Syria. You've just gone through a decade in which you took in hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees. The Iraqis have just started going back and you now have this new influx. Do you think that the fall of Assad will in some way end this crisis or will that launch the beginning of a larger Syrian civil war? Well, the challenge that we have that the longer this conflict goes on, the more the country will implode. And so for the first time again there's talk of is there going to be a fragmentation of Syria, the break up into different smaller states which I think would be catastrophic and something that we would be reeling from for decades to come. But the longer it goes on the nastier it gets, the more complicated it gets. But at the same time anybody who's saying that Bashar's regime has got weeks to live really doesn't know the reality on the ground. They still have capability. So I give them a strong showing at least for the first half of 2013. Is it not fair? Are they not essentially fighting to the end because they believe that in a post Assad scenario the Alawites will be massacred? So this is where you have to look at different parts of the opposition and what we're concentrating on is the opposition that believes that all members of society of Syria have a stake in the future including the Alawis and the minorities that the Syrian army should stay intact so we don't go through the problems that we saw in Iraq because the Syrian army will be the guarantor of stability and we in Jordan are hosting the ex-prime minister of Syria, Riyadh Hijab who believes in a secular future to Damascus and to be inclusive with Alawis and all minorities to be part of the building block of future Syria and for the army to keep intact for the stability of the next process. So those are the type of people that I think we're counting on that really understand what Syria needs. Why is it that the army has not gone to Assad and said you have to leave? In other words there's been relatively little defection at that highest level. Help us understand what the dynamic is that keeps the regime together. Well the regime was based on Alawite leadership that gives us a lot of its strength and again part of the problem is with some of the minorities especially if you look at the Christians and the Druze part of the issue that we've been tackling with over the past year and a half is seeing this influx of radical fighters coming into the country. So if you were a Druze or you were a Christian who are sitting on the side of the fence and even certain Alawites are not happy with the way Bashar is dictating the future of his country but the other alternative radical Islamist groups coming into Jordan is Syria is more frightening. So I think that's what's kept them on the sidelines and therefore given more support to the regime because option two is worse. And so we're working on option three. How much jihadi penetration into Syria do you sense? Well al-Qaeda is established in Syria. They've been there for about a year. They are getting certain supplies of material weapons and financing unfortunately from certain sectors. So they are forced to contend with and even if we get the best government into Damascus tomorrow we have at least two or three years of securing our borders from them coming across and to clean them up. So Jordan is today and has been committed since three weeks into the Afghan campaign. We've been there for many, many years but today when we look at Jordanian troops deploying to Afghanistan we've got to really think because I think the new Taliban that we're going to have to deal with is actually going to be in Syria. So even if we get the best government into Syria and there is stability to the armed forces to clean up the bad elements that is inside the borders of Syria today is going to take us a couple of years. So this is the day after I think is what you're getting at. What we're trying to do is what are the plans for day after? And this is when I ask for the appeal of humanitarian supplies. It's not just looking after the refugees that are coming into Jordan but also stockpiling so that in the areas that are let's say under opposition control get the supplies in there to keep people in place but also to win hearts and minds because if those people start to starve and they don't have fuel, electricity and water and hospitals are not running that's when radicalism comes in and takes advantage. So it's a two-fold request and we're employing the Western communities and the international community to really help Jordan and Lebanon to an extent. There's another election that took place this week, the Israeli election. When you look at what happened do you believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu may be encouraged to take more positive steps to try and achieve a two-state solution? Well, I could say I'm probably happier with the turnout of my elections than he is with his but whatever happens there's an understanding with I think the Prime Minister because obviously we've been in contact with the Israelis and Palestinians. Last year 2012 was a year where we tried to keep the atmosphere positive between Israelis and Palestinians because we knew that America was locked into internal issues with the reelection or the elections that were going on in that country. President Obama won and as a second-term president there's always a tremendous advantage of pushing the process forward. This phase, leading up until the inauguration, Israeli elections has been what we call the homework stage. Jordan with some Arab countries and with three leaders in Europe the British, the French and the Germans are all marching towards Washington February and March to say Mr. President it's time to really engage on the Israeli-Palestinian process. Prime Minister Netanyahu understands that and whatever he does to form his coalition he's got to keep in mind that the international community strongly led by the Europeans and hopefully with the United States is going to be knocking on his door on that of the Palestinians to move the process forward. Do you worry that in this election you did also have the rise of new voices in Israel that openly talk about the permanent annexation of the West Bank and Gaza that talk about the fact that there is no Palestinian state and that Jordan is the Palestinian state? In actual fact I think since Arab spring I mean at the beginning of Arab spring you heard many Israelis saying this is the best thing that's happened to us and all of us couldn't believe or fathom that line of reasoning and I would say that most Israelis now look at the Arab spring with tremendous concern so the last thing that I would think that the majority of sensible Israelis would want Jordan to be destabilized as an alternative. The challenge today is can they create the two state solution and quite honestly I don't think if we're not too late the two state solution will only survive as long as the end of President Obama's term. Beyond that if we don't fix it in the next four years I don't believe it will ever happen. Don't the Israelis have a point when they say how can we make peace with the Palestinians when one wing that rules Gaza, Hamas does not even accept our right to exist? Well if you're looking at actually recently a lot of the Hamas leadership's positioning knowing that you've got now a second term president in the United States are being a bit more realistic on how they deal with the coming phase because really this is their last chance the next four years and the question to Israelis also I mean if I can throw it back is if there's no two state solution then the only other alternative is the one state solution which I think scares Israelis more because if they don't invest in a two state solution which is the only way that I think they will be able to come out of this crisis for the long term stability of Israel if it's a one state solution then is it democratic or is it apartheid and this is a serious challenge to the Israelis so therefore many of us believe including many in Israel that the two state solution is the only option to go for. A final question I mentioned you know repression didn't work bribery seems to have worked you haven't repressed you don't have the money to bribe do you feel like you've managed this kind of balancing act in Jordan and that you worry that all these pressures from Syria the Israeli issue could destabilize it all? Well it goes I think without saying that the past year and a half with the very difficult challenges to our economy to our gas being cut off for Egypt that got us into the financial difficulties that we're facing today instabilities in Syria have definitely added to the challenge but Jordan has always I think looked at whatever policies they have not to use other things that are happening in the areas of excuse. I think the difference between Jordan and many other countries is we took a different approach and we pushed for evolution not revolution and the only way you can do that is through the rule of law so a national committee was put together and they changed a third of the constitution created an independent commission for elections a new constitutional court many other laws so we took the systematic approach mainly because of my experiences in being educated in the west and looking how western systems did it it was really the rule of law other countries and we did have tremendous pressure in Jordan to go straight for elections and you know quite honestly we stood our ground changed the constitution first go to elections the other countries if you look at Egypt, Libya and Tunis elections were early and they all had good elections but then they were given one year to write the constitution at which point they have to have elections a second time and all those three countries have not been able to move smoothly with the change of the constitution so whatever pressure we've been and sort of hits that Jordan got over 2012 I think it's been vindicated now that we actually took the right approach it's a process it's step by step and I think as I've alluded to the difficult challenge today is still ahead of us and that is creating the political party cultures so that in four years time we have left, right and center and I sometimes am surprised by western think tanks and certain of the European ambassadors in our country where they're saying well this is going to be very difficult so you think? I mean this has been a major challenge and you can't have this by waving a magic wand it's hard work to create doctrine and platforms so that people start to for the next elections vote for candidates because they're on left or right of these particular issues so that political party culture that is the major challenge and where we're starting from low down in Jordan I think we're still steps ahead of many many countries in the Middle East so it's going to be tough for all of us but that's the only way I think that we can do it Your Majesty, thank you very much this was a fascinating conversation Thank you