 Good morning, Your Excellency Prime Minister Erdogan of Turkey, Your Excellency President Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian National Authority, Your Excellency Prime Minister Cebaleem, Dear Friends, Ladies and Gentlemen. It is with great pleasure that I welcome you today to the World Economic Forum on the Middle East, Africa and Eurasia. We gather today at a time when our world is in a state of flux, changing in profound manner and at a great speed. Indeed, over the past few years, business, political leaders have experienced a seemingly permanent succession of major crises, which have all resonated globally. I just want to mention the subprimes, the subreddit crisis, the Arab Spring, Syria, the Euro crisis and so on. All originated in a particular part of the world, but all had the potential to dramatically reshape the global political and economic reality. Turkey, as we all know, enjoys a unique positioning for geographical, cultural and historical reasons. Briefly said, Turkey is the most eastern part of the West and the most western part of the East. You, Prime Minister Erdogan, have been an incredible mediator in critical areas, such as the Middle East, Caucasus, Central Asia, the Mediterranean and the Balkans. When I met you last August, you just had returned from your first trip to Somalia and I was deeply touched by how you personally were moved by the human suffering you have seen in this country. This led you to the important meeting which took place under your leadership in Istanbul last week. This is only one demonstration of your personal commitment to improving the state of the world. Turkey is also a country which combines secular democracy with a predominantly Muslim population. This underlies the compatibility of Islam and democratic values, creating a blueprint for the development in other countries coming out of dictatorship. Last but not least, I should mention that Turkey under your leadership, Prime Minister, despite the economic crisis, is the fastest growing OECD country providing hope in another wise depressed economic global economy. I'm therefore particularly pleased and honored to say that for the first time in its 42 years history, the World Economic Forum holds a regional summit that spans across three different regions. I want to thank you, Prime Minister, and also the government and the people of Turkey for the great cooperation we had in the preparation of this meeting. And I want to express special thanks also to the Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan and Minister Egeman Bakiris for their invaluable help and support in making this meeting possible. Before the Prime Minister will officially open, may I ask, my friend, the Chairman of Support and the CEO of the Coca-Cola Company to say some words on behalf of you, the World Economic Forum community representing not only the co-chairs now here on the lectern, but all the people here in the room. And I think, Mutar, you are not only the right person to address the audience as a representative of the audience, because you are a business statesman combining success with global citizenship. But I think also I should mention that you have particular roots in this country, having been born in New York, but having been born from parents who came from Turkey. So Mutar, would you join me here? Thank you very much, Klaus. Thanks very much. And congratulations. You've assembled here a great group of leaders across government, across business, across civil society to address this region's critical challenges. Today I'm very deeply honored to represent the co-chairs of the World Economic Forum on the Middle East, North Africa and Eurasia. And also it's a special honor and privilege for me to be in my own country and in this beautiful city of Istanbul. First let me just mention, call out my co-chairs. First from Turkey we have a chairwoman and a chairlady and managing director of Sabancı holding Güler Sabancı, president and chief executive officer of Embraer from Brazil, Frederiko Curado, the group chief executive officer of the National Bank of Kuwait, Ibrahim Dabdu is here. The president and chief executive officer of Vestas Wind Systems from Denmark, Ditlev Engel, the chairman and chief executive officer of VTB Bank, Andrei Kostin. And then finally chairman of ENI from Italy, Giuseppe Recki. So on behalf of all my co-chairs, I want to extend a very warm welcome to Prime Minister Erdogan and also Palestinian President Abbas and Tunisian Prime Minister Jabali here. Thank you for joining us today. When you look at the major forces shaping the world today, the financial crisis in the world, the energy issues, challenges, water, foreign investment, trade, integration, economic integration particularly, environmental sustainability, really nowhere do these elements converge in a more powerful way than at the crossroads of the Middle East, North Africa and Eurasia right here in Istanbul. Indeed the theme of this meeting, bridging regions in transformation, which is the three critical regions must work towards a collaborative, cooperative future to ensure not only their prosperity but as also the economic and strategic stability of the whole world. I think the world also recognizes the vital role that Turkey can play indeed is already playing in bridging cultures, bridging economies, bridging financial and commercial policies. So I believe that this remarkable wave of change has been driven and continues to be fueled by the same root causes as in a way the fall of the Berlin Wall a generation ago, the incredible changes that we're seeing in North Africa. Over the course of history we've seen time and time again a blossoming of freedom, entrepreneurship, economic empowerment in nations just like those nations of North Africa and the Middle East. So I think it's important as we look at the recent wave of changes to look at those elements best expressed by freedom and vitality. And I believe we see them in the nations today of North Africa, Middle East and Eurasia. Indeed we have here with us breathing live examples of the change makers actually who will build our future societies. Also these regions need the support of the world. International institutions, the business community and civil society has to come together in the golden triangle. So it is a pivotal moment, turning point for the region and it's our collective opportunity to demonstrate that the global community understands and will play its critical role in helping these new governments, these new societies respond to their people's expectations. So I look forward very much as all of you do in to hearing from our distinguished speakers and again on behalf of all my co-chairs a very warm welcome and thank you. Thank you. Now invite the Excellencies, the members of the panel this morning to join me here on the stage. Please. Please welcome our co-chair. I now invite Prime Minister Erdogan to give us the welcoming and opening address. Thank you. Distinguished heads of state and government, esteemed participants, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to greet you all with heartfelt feelings and welcome you to Turkey, to Istanbul. I would like to start by expressing my pleasure at the fact that this forum, organized by the World Economic Forum on Bridging Regions and Transformation, is being held in our country. And I would like to express my thanks to everyone who has contributed to the organization of this forum on behalf of myself and on behalf of our people. I believe that the organization of this meeting by the World Economic Forum on Bridging Regions and Transformation in Turkey is very appropriate and very meaningful. Because Turkey lies at the center of the difficult geography, but despite all the challenges and problems, Turkey continues to be a country that grows with stability with democracy and Turkey continues to maintain strongly its position of being an island of stability in a region which is surrounded by major difficulties. It is obvious that countries in the Caucasus, the Middle East, North Africa and the Balkans cannot be successful if they look only inwards. Countries which shy away from regional cooperation would also lose out in terms of prosperity, stability and security. In fact, Turkey is a very clear and concrete example of this fact. If you look at the recent history of Turkey, you will see that whenever Turkey pursued active foreign policy and democratization gained impetus, all of these factors strongly supported the economy in Turkey. At times when democracy was interrupted and reforms were suspended and in periods when fundamental human rights and freedoms were not sufficiently taken into consideration, Turkey was unable to realize economic development. In the same way, when Turkey did not take upon itself active roles in regional matters and carried out a more inward-looking foreign policy, Turkey was not able to grow its economy and its level of prosperity. In fact, during the tenure of our government in the last 10 years, we have been pursuing an active foreign policy focused on peace, and we have been carrying out reforms based on democratization, and these activities and efforts are very meaningful in terms of showing how a country can progress by taking such action. The process that Turkey is going through may be unique to Turkey in certain aspects, but it is also a process which could constitute an example for all the countries in the region in general. I will just try to give you a few examples. The Turkish economy in the last 10 years achieved an average annual growth rate of 5.3 percent. And throughout this decade, we have to also remember that we have also faced a global economic crisis, and this average annual growth rate of 5.3 percent is no doubt a great achievement under those circumstances. In 2011, Turkey has been the second fastest-growing country in the world next to China and was able to grow its economy by a figure of 8.5 percent. In 2002, Turkey's national income stood at $230 billion. By 2011, this figure had tripled to $772 billion. Their capital income in the same way has tripled in the same period and went from $3,500 to $10,444. Our foreign trade volume stood at $88 billion in 2002, and this grew to $376 billion by 2011, which is a more than four times increase. Our tourism income stood at $8.5 billion in 2002, and today our tourism income is at around $23 billion. Foreign direct investment, which could not exceed $1 billion annually, has reached $16 billion by 2011. Almost all of our economic indicators are doing quite well despite the fact that there was some deterioration in 2009 when the impact of the global economic crisis was at its highest. So, Turkey, in terms of exports, growth, tourism income, foreign direct investment, balanced budget, and barrowing, interest rates on barrowing, has been doing very well and has displayed a positive performance. And let me also state here that we were able to overcome the global crisis process without making an agreement with the IMF. In fact, Turkey owed the IMF $23.5 billion in 2002 because of a standby agreement. Today, this amount has decreased down to $1.7 billion. And by April 2013, Turkey will have paid back all of its debt to the IMF. My dear friends, this success, this achievement in the economy, is important. And I can also say that the foreign currency reserves of Turkey was $27 billion by the end of 2002. But the foreign currency reserves of the central bank, Turkish central bank, as of yesterday, stands at $92 billion. This is no doubt a result of stability and confidence in Turkey, and it is also a manifestation of an active process of democratization. Stability and confidence is vital not just for Turkey, but also for every single country in our region. During our 10-year tenure in governance, Turkey has refrained with great care from any state that could in any way damage stability or confidence. In all the elections that we have had, we did not allow a populism, and we never made any concessions on fiscal policy or monetary policy. And this experience that Turkey has had is an important exemplary experience, not just for countries in the region, but also for all countries, including countries in Europe where the crisis is having a serious impact. In Turkey, in the last 10 years, we carried out with determination reforms which were delayed due to populist concerns for many years. We carried out significant reforms in banking, finance, public policy, public finances, and especially social security. Improving the investment environment and taking care-care measures to note investments have been areas in which we have focused on. And we have consulted with the relevant parties with respect to the reforms and measures we plan to take. And we did not hide anything from our people. And we managed the economy with full transparency. In the last 10 years, we have strengthened our communication and cooperation with neighboring countries, with regional countries, and also with all the countries that stand at hand, not geography. We went to many countries which our business people go to, and we have been trying to help these problems. And we, at times, led the way for our business people when we try to go to other countries. We tried to bring business people together so that they can do business. And we signed agreements, and we grew our trade area and our investment area. And the Turkish contract and sector is second in terms of size only to the Chinese. And I can tell you that the Turkish contractors have successfully completed the works that they have undertaken. My dear friends, I also would like to emphasize one more point. The success that Turkey has achieved in the last 10 years is a result of the steps that she has taken in the country. But they are also a result of the active, multi-dimensional, and successful constructive effects in its foreign policy. We have shown that in the geography that we live in, solidarity, communication, and cooperation are important. And we have shown how positive results, the kind of positive results that we can get as a result of this. It has never been Turkey's intention to intervene in the internal affairs of any country, be this a country next door to Turkey, or located far away from Turkey. But we also defend a well-understood idea and opinion, which is that the stability, prosperity, peace of every single country in this region depends on the stability, prosperity, peace of the region. In the Middle East, the Caucasus, North Africa, the Balkans, the borders of countries to a great extent were shaped during the First World War. And this also went on during the Second World War, and also during more recent history. And in this geography, borders have been drawn in such a painful way at times that sometimes villages where relatives, even siblings lived together were divided in half where half of the village was lived in one country and half in another country. As Turkey, we have seen this happen in almost all of our borders, and many countries have had the same. This has created this drawing of a line, a border has created separation, but in this world today we should consider this as an opportunity to come back together again. Because in this larger geography, the points in common are much more than differences. That's why any problem in one country has something to do with another country. Another country is very focused on what's going on in other countries, because when you have war, conflict, migration tests in a country next door, then those events also have an impact on your country. And as Turkey, when we take initiative in regional matters or raise our voice, this is not because we aim to intervene in anybody else's internal affairs. Our aim is to make a point and focus on this specific sensitivity, for example, focus attention on the Palestinian issue. The Palestinian issue is very important, because the Palestinians and our brothers are relatives. But at the same time, and I will undermine this, we also believe that the Palestinian issue is an issue which we must focus on because it's an issue that brings regional peace and stability and a piece of the people living in the region. That's why we attract attention to this, because on the one hand, innocent people without any discrimination to them being a baby, a child, a woman, an elder person are facing bombardment, are killed in masses, and people are kept in the largest open air prison in the world. And on the other hand, the whole region is faced with a lot of anger being pumped into it. With respect to the Iranian issue, we too have displayed a big difference, and we always said that a new crisis in the region could have an impact on all of the region. That's why we've always been in favor of negotiation and dialogue. And we have benefited from our historical experience in terms of demand expectations which have emerged in the Arab countries recently. And we have always asked the governments of the countries in the region to take those demands into consideration. In other words, we have always said that we should respect the will of the people and the democratic will of the people. The position of Turkey with respect to Syria is clear. Our goal is not to intervene in the internal affairs of Syria. On the contrary, we know, we are aware that any fire in Syria would engulf the whole geography. And that's why we're speaking our point, and we're trying to attract the international opinion to this serious issue. Tens of thousands of people have had to migrate to Lebanon to Jordan because of what's happening in Syria. In Turkey, there are about 24,000 refugees from Syria. So, the issue does not remain within the borders of Syria. It goes beyond the borders of Syria, and it has an impact on the whole region. My dear friends, in a globalized world, the problem in a country becomes a global issue because as the world globalizes, human values, democracy, fundamental rights and freedoms have to also be understood within a global perspective. As the world becomes a global village, we also have a global conscience. So, if what is happening is not sufficient to show difficulties to mankind, we must understand the implications of the global economic crisis so that we take necessary global measures in the economy to prevent such crises. That's why this summit meeting is important, and I hope this meeting is going to help increase solidarity and cooperation between countries and regions. And I would like to thank everyone for their participation and contribution. I would like to especially thank Mr. Schwab and every single person who is here to contribute to this meeting. I thank the world economic forum and I wish the forum success and great cooperation with respect. Thank you very much Prime Minister. In your speech, you highlighted the importance of creating peace in Palestine. President Abbas, the world economic forum has been engaged very much in creating peace, justice in your region since over 20 years. So it's a special pleasure to welcome you today. And of course, the danger is, as the Prime Minister mentioned, that today, overwhelmed by so many issues and challenges in the world, we tend to forget the Palestinian issue. So we are all very eager to hear from you. Is there any hope that this problem will be solved soon? Thank you. In the name of God, most compassionate, most merciful. Your Excellency, Mr. Rajab Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister of Turkey. Your Excellency, Mr. Hamadi Al-Jabali, Prime Minister of Tunisia. Your Excellency, Mr. Faiz Al-Tarawna, Prime Minister of the Hashmiah Kingdom of Jordan. Your Excellency, Mr. Klaus Schwab, Chairman of the World Economic Forum. Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to be speaking before your conference that brings together distinguished global leaders in the fields of economy and politics to discuss numerous issues headed by democratic transformation and its impact on economy, sustainable development and peace and stability in the region and in the whole world. On this occasion, I would like to express our deep appreciation to the World Economic Forum for its role in enhancing communication and the exchange of information and expertise and providing opportunities for constructive dialogue among the participants, including political leaderships and business circles. The World Economic Forum over the last 17 years has contributed to building bridges of dialogue among all the parties involved in the peace process in the Middle East. A number of important economic and investment development initiatives have been discussed in this context in order to provide the prosperity and stability needed to create a suitable environment for negotiations and for a peace process between us and the Israelis yet. In spite of all the efforts that have been made, the peace process continues to stall without arriving at a just solution that would put an end to Israeli occupation of our land and put an end to the suffering of our people for over 64 years since the start of the Nakba. But our people will not lose hope in a better future for us and for our neighbors, and we shall continue our efforts in order to achieve peace and security. Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to take this opportunity to express to His Excellency Mr. Rajab Tayyip Erdogan, the Prime Minister of Turkey, our deepest gratitude and appreciation for inviting us and for hosting this important conference in this beautiful country. This reflects the importance you give to achieving peace and security and stability in the region and finding a just and comprehensive solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict. And you have translated this position in your honorable stances as to the Palestine question. This underlines the valuable role that Turkey plays in the region, whether at the level of extending assistance to the parties to the peace process in the Middle East or the efforts made to achieve reconciliation between different Palestinian parties and to put an end to Palestinian internal schism. Mr. Chairman, in spite of all the difficulties that we face as a result of ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, which does not allow the building of an economic cycle in our lands, yet there is promising investment in Palestine and the horizons for such investment is extensive for investment. It has such opportunities in the fields of tourism, real estate, agriculture, industry, communications, IT, and the production and distribution of electricity and water and other areas for Palestine due to its particular spiritual and religious location is considered among the most important touristic destinations for followers of the three monotheistic religions around the world and to others as well. And in the service of this sector that requires more than $10 billion of investments, it has witnessed the participation of Palestinian investors as well as other partners investing over $2 billion in the area of building and managing hotels and touristic facilities in Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Ramallah, Jericho, Gaza, and elsewhere. Had it not been there, we would have witnessed multiple-fold investments, yet we are still constrained by the occupation that continues to control over 60 percent of the lands of the Palestinian territories that obstructs our efforts as for real estate investments that are estimated for the coming decade at about $10 billion. Palestinian investors as well as the Palestine Investment Fund, in addition to Arab investors from Qatar and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and other countries, have started to establish a number of neighborhoods and residential cities and business centers, including the Rihan in Ramallah and the Jinan neighborhood in the city of Genine and Rawabi City close to Ramallah, Qamar or Moon City in Jericho, and other such projects. This in addition to initiating a number of major industrial projects, most recently among these is the Industrial Zone in Genine with the Turkish-Palestinian partnership, as well as the Industrial Zone in Bethlehem with friend support, as well as IT projects and other IT incubators. As for other investments in the field of communications, a number of Arab and Palestinian investments have created landline and mobile-form companies in the field of energy, being companies to produce and distribute electricity as well as other power producing stations and distribution plants, and the field is still open in this area for further investment. In the field of agricultural investment we have conducted partnerships, successful partnerships with a number of friendly countries. For example, we have concluded a partnership with the Japanese government to develop the agricultural sector as well as agricultural industries under the name of the Peace Corridor in the Jordan Valley. This is a four-party project. It includes Japan, Jordan, Israel, and Palestine. Israel continues to place obstacles in its path. In the service of these investment activities in Palestine, we established laws and regulations and infrastructure and health education and training facilities, as well as different supervisory authorities, including the Palestinian Monetary Authority that oversees an advanced banking system, as well as the Palestine Capital Market Authority that supervises the capital markets. In addition, we have the Palestine Statistical Center that provides statistical information and provides services in accordance with international statistical standards. We also have the Investment Promotion Authority and the Authority to develop industrial zones. Additionally, a number of investment funds have been established in the areas of real estate investment and small and medium-sized enterprises, and another for investment in the city of Jerusalem. In particular, on this occasion, we invite you to visit Palestine and to visit, of course, the city of Jerusalem to get to know the conditions in Palestine and allow yourselves the opportunity to discover the opportunities for investment at firsthand and to be able to conclude successful and profitable partnerships in the different areas that we have just mentioned, and such partnerships and investment will consolidate the steadfastness of our Palestinian people and would support the achievement of peace and stability in the region. And please do not listen to the goals that prohibit visiting Jerusalem, for these are not founded on any religious grounds or any political grounds. To visit a prisoner does not mean you are visiting his jailer, so we welcome you to Palestine. Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, today is the 5th of June, and here we are marking 45 years of occupation. Occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip and Sinai and the Golan Heights, and it was called the Naksa, and perhaps you have followed the most recent developments in the peace process that has reached a deadlock, and the two-state solution project continues to meet major obstacles as a result of illegal Israeli settlement policies that is swallowing our Palestinian territories and fragmenting them and isolating the city of East Jerusalem from its Arab and Palestinian surroundings. This is exactly what Israel wants to achieve. It wants to isolate Jerusalem, and the people of Jerusalem so that they will migrate in the end. Hence, when there are those who call for prohibiting visiting Jerusalem, they pour into this policy. And Israeli policies aim to change different historical and civilizational sites in this city. In addition to ongoing aggression by Israeli settlers in East Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank, attacking Palestinian civilians and their property and their houses of worship, they have burned down four mosques in the West Bank so far. The Israeli government does not respect international frames of reference and the two-state solution on the basis of the borders of 1967, based on the roadmap and the Arab Peace Initiative and the different resolutions of international legitimacy. As for the Palestinian site, we have abided by our commitments in accordance with the concluded agreements and the initiatives of the International Quartet. We have demonstrated our intentions and our positions and offered all that was asked of us in this regard in the manner that meets the aspirations of our people to live in an independent sovereign state abiding by international law within the borders of 1967, a state that lives in peace and safety, security and stability alongside the state of Israel and believes in the charter of the United Nations. In the context of constructive cooperation with the international community, we have completed the building of the institutions of the state that has gained recognition by over 133 states in the world. These 133 states all recognize the state of Palestine and we have embassies in these countries and we have another set of states where we have political representation and in some cases diplomatic representation, though it has not reached the level of ambassadorial representation. Yet, we can say that almost the whole world recognizes us except for those who God may forgive. And we don't want to mention names here. And we have diplomatic representation in most countries of the world. Yet, the embodiment of the independence and sovereignty of the state on the land is still dependent on putting an end to Israeli occupation and Israeli settlement on our land, including in East Jerusalem, which is the state of our state. And we insist on this and if it is not so, then we do not want a state at all. This requires marking the borders between the two states on the basis of the border lines of 1967. The whole world recognizes these borders and the whole world wants the state with these borders. And I have to say this here. These borders only give us 22 percent of historical Palestine yet we have accepted this. And yet we have surrendered to this and we have accepted all this injustice yet injustice has not even dealt with us. And therefore, there has to be a just and agreed solution to the refugee issue in accordance with the Arab Peace Initiative. The Arab Peace Initiative stipulates that a solution, a just solution and agreed solution must be found to the refugee question. Agreed with whom? With Israel. And then what we agree to, we will implement. But what we do not agree to will be postponed or delayed. But this is the logic, the rationale of the Arab Peace Initiative. It is a rationale that is realistic, it is honest, yet Israel has turned a blind eye to this initiative. And here before you all, we would like to underline the fact that with our move at the United Nations to obtain a membership of Palestine is a legitimate right of our people similar to all the peoples of the world. There is no people in the world that is not represented at the United Nations except for the Palestinian people. This effort is not addressed against any party and it is not an alternative to negotiations. And this is a very important issue for negotiations are not undermined if we go and obtain membership or even non-member state status. This does not mean we cannot go back to negotiations to discuss the seven topics of the final status negotiations and reach agreement with the Israelis. There is no contradiction whatsoever between going to the United Nations and between conducting negotiations that could go on until we arrive at solutions. This move was only a consolidation of negotiations for we responded to different regional and international initiatives and we conducted a series of meetings and contacts direct and indirect as well as exploratory meetings under the supervision of His Majesty King Abdullah II at all levels with the Israeli party and as well as with American sponsorship and with the committee of the Arab Peace Initiative and most recently we had an exchange of letters with the Prime Minister of Israel in order to reach a suitable groundwork to return to negotiations and to address all the final status issues and to build peace based on the decisions of international legitimacy for the Arab peace initiatives provides a valuable opportunity for building peace in our region for it guarantees normal relations for Israel with over 57 Arab and Islamic states. This is the rationale of the Arab Peace Initiative. It was an Arab Peace Initiative then it became an Islamic Peace Initiative and it was adopted by several Islamic conferences and everybody agreed to the fact that if Israel withdraws from the Palestinian and Arab occupied territories and all these states will recognize Israel. So imagine the benefit that Israel would get had it accepted yet we find that Israel turns a blind eye on all this. For these efforts to bear fruit the international community is required today more than ever and particularly the United States of America the United States of America and the other great powers members of the UN Security Council are required to persuade Israel or to drive Israel if necessary to put an end to settlements in order for us to move out of the stalemate in which we stand. For today we are neither at war nor are we at peace and this condition could extend for decades. For the time is not for building walls and for further settlements no it is the time to start again in serious negotiations that will lead us to the much desired peace from this forum. Ladies and gentlemen I would like to address our Israeli neighbors and say we are seekers of peace and justice and freedom and our people has made a major sacrifice when it accepted to establish a state on less than a quarter of the area of historical Palestine. So do not turn your backs to this opportunity that is allowed today and this opportunity may not stay on the table for a long time coming. For the region is witnessing rapid developments and if we want for democracy to be victorious and for human rights to prevail then we have to build just and comprehensive peace for peace to meet with democracy today. We are in the throes of democracy and this is the opportunity to build peace and this will save us and secure a better future for our region and for our future generations and it will save our children and your children from the foolery of going back to the cycle of violence and conflict that we do not want. Mr. Chairman ladies and gentlemen over the last years we have made every effort to provide the suitable groundwork to establish an independent Palestinian state. The Palestinian authority has established the political institutions of the state as well as the judicial, economic security and other institutions and it has established the foundations for the infrastructure needed to build a modern state that is independent and self-dependent and that will develop its economic capabilities under the rule of law and a safe and secure life for its citizens providing for human rights and rights of women and I underline the rights of women for the rights of women are protected by law in Palestine and a system that is based on the turnover of power and here we have to indicate that we work sincerely to implement all that was agreed to in Cairo and to achieve national reconciliation and to organize presidential and legislative elections as soon as possible and matters not willing inshallah are moving in the right direction for the political will is there for moving ahead towards reconciliation to achieve it yes even reconciliation needs loading Mr. Chairman ladies and gentlemen I thank you for your attention and I appreciate your efforts at organization and your hospitality and I wish this conference success in achieving its role in extending the bridges of dialogue and exchange and political cooperation and economic cooperation and to improve the opportunities for development and investment among the peoples and states of our regions and to contribute to prosperity and to build peace and security and stability in the region and around the world and we thank once again our brothers in Turkey and His Excellency President Abdullah Ghul and His Excellency the Prime Minister Mr. Rajab Tayyipardwan for their hospitality and for their efforts to make this meeting of the World Economic Forum a major success and peace be upon you. President Abbas thank you very much for first drawing our attention to the investment opportunities which exist in Palestine but also and more important to draw our attention to the precarious situation which you face in Palestine a solution can only come from negotiations with the good will of both sides we have seen from what you told us you good will we hope that the negotiations can reassume soon and we also know that if those negotiations don't proceed rapidly and maintain the stalemate the fragile stalemate it's not an issue only for your region and for Palestine it's an issue for the whole world a decisive issue. Prime Minister Jibali it is a very great pleasure to greet you here amongst us. We last met in Davos at the beginning of the year. Your country I would say was the originator of the Arab Spring and now your country is showing the world how a country that has experienced dictatorship has been able to transform itself into a democratic country and how a country can become stable through such transformation so you are an example and we are very happy to be able to listen to you to hear from you what progress has been made and what the outlook is. Prime Minister you have the floor. In the name of God all merciful all compassionate. Your Excellency Mahmoud Abbas President of Palestine. Your Excellency Rajab Tayyip Erdogan Prime Minister of Turkey. Mr. Schwab Chairman of the World Economic Forum. Your Excellencies ladies and gentlemen. It is my pleasure today to participate in the World Economic Forum today and to contribute to enriching this meeting and I would in particular like to thank Turkey government, the Turkish government and the people for hosting this very important forum which is proof of the special status of Turkey on the regional and international levels. I am confident that this forum is a proper framework for discussing very important issues of common interest and how to meet the challenges that we are faced with in order to achieve sustainable development. A development that will guarantee a good and dignified life for our peoples. The Arab countries in particular and the Islamic countries in general are undergoing exceptional circumstances and this requires a deep introspection into the reasons why we have reached this situation and to try to come up with solutions not only for the benefit or for the present of these countries but also for their future and the future of the world. The future should be drawn up by all the people and the youth in particular because they play a pioneering role in defining this future. The current experience has proved that the developmental policies and methods in our countries have failed to achieve solutions for all the challenges we are faced with. This has resulted in a very fragile situation marred by unemployment and increased poverty and disparities in economic and social development amongst the different people and even within the same country. The economic difficulties that are witnessed by the world as a whole as a result of the financial crisis and the debt crisis from which several European countries have suffered all of this is an added challenge and motivation to reorganize globally and to distribute roles amongst the different people, different countries, defined responsibilities in order to achieve sustainable development. Reaching this goal necessarily requires reviewing developmental policies on the level of each country using a comprehensive approach. One of the main aspects of this comprehensive approach is a democratic political system based on respecting freedom and liberties, liberties of all people, social equity, true social equity between all people, a wide inclusion, a wide inclusive policy for all sectors in drawing various policies in addition to transparency and good governance. You probably realize that the requirements of modern development include supporting promising sectors that provide added value that have high technological content and high employability for the contribution of these sectors in increasing employment especially amongst university graduates who are increasing year after year. In Tunisia there is a serious indicator that states that the number of unemployed amongst university graduates is 220,000 and this number increases annually by 8,000 all of them seeking employment. Therefore for the future of our developing countries we need to invest in a knowledge economy and to search for strategic investment areas such as renewable energy, solar energy, wind energy and others and try to maximize the use of such renewable energies. This also forces us to improve the quality of our educational system and our training programs and to try to connect them with the economy to meet the requirements of the labor market in its diversity and its development in order to decrease unemployment dramatically. We all agree that true sustainable development cannot be achieved without a modern infrastructure that is complete and comprehensive. A developed structure is the main motivator and generator for development and all economic and social policies are built on this structure. The importance of this component is that it decreases the difference between the different sectors and ensures complementarity and it supports the freedom of movement of money and goods and the labor force which guarantees a flourishing economy. Ladies and gentlemen it is true that the world looks to the countries of the Arab Spring including Tunisia and this is a big responsibility for us because we were the cradle for this spring Tunisia thanks to the loyalty of its people and their love of their country have managed to make important strides on the path towards democracy. They have selected for the first time in the history of Tunisia the people have chosen through free and transparent elections they have chosen the National Council whose task is to write a new constitution draft a new constitution for our country that will be the basis for a new phase in the history of our country a new phase full of justice freedom and dignity this constitution will be for all Tunisians it will not be a constitution for a certain group or certain political party even if it's the party representing the majority like Annada so the main condition for the success of this constitution is its inclusivity and to base it upon consensus we wanted to be a constitution based on good basis of humanitarian values global values respect for freedom all freedom for all people respect for human rights all of human rights and for all people a constitution that is also based on constructing a country that is strong and based on its institutions consecrating the independence of the judiciary freedom of the media and for the state to be one for all a state for its all of its citizens that does not discriminate between its people based on color or religion or any other basis we also want a constitution that will guarantee for the people ways to hold the government accountable through various institutions this is on the political track and we have committed ourselves to ensuring elections during the spring of 2013 in particular in March 2013 to make sure that the interim period will not continue for longer than necessary on another level the current government has started on a very ambitious program on the social and economic reform aiming at putting an end to corruption and to end all corruption from the past to guarantee the participation of our people in the process of reconstruction and to give special attention to the weak and the marginalized of our community and the remote areas the underprivileged areas to give them special attention and special care and to try to find possibilities for employment especially for youth and to alleviate poverty by providing housing and healthcare and the infrastructure the government investment program was developed within this vision as a comprehensive program that meets the requirements of this period and the demands of our people in all areas of life and as you know ladies and gentlemen Tunisia has many advantages it has a unique geographic position between Europe and Africa between the east and west it has many important human resources in addition to modern infrastructure and many other incentives for investment and competitiveness as Tunisia remains in the forefront of all the countries in Africa and in particular in North Africa Tunisia has managed to attract investment for an investment that has provided thousands of work opportunities and we want to improve this by ensuring possibilities for competitiveness and improving our economy through radical reforms most important of which is a draft law for investment that is more open guarantees open investment and free investment and we hope to complete that before the end of 2012 we will also reform our banking structure educational structure as well as the stock market fight corruption and ensure transparency on all levels the same applies to the industry as well to meet the requirements of a state that is ruled by law we will also work at developing the tourism sector and we will establish general department for investment that will be a one-stop shop and now we are already witnessing improvements in our economy we have improved levels of growth during the first quarter of 2012 from minus 1.8 in the last quarter of 2011 it has gone up to 4.8 compared to the same period in 2011 investment has increased and the industrial sector foreign direct investment has also increased tourism is returning back to normal in terms of the number of tourists and returns as well as increased trade with all countries of the world we expect that this positive trend will continue and we expect that the Tunisian economy will grow by 3.5 percent in 2012 and the deficit will decrease by 6 percent and the inflation rate will remain at 4 percent partnership between the private and public sectors is a very important component of development and we will be supporting this through proper legislation that will encourage this partnership and ensure flow of investments improve technology and decrease the burden on the state budget despite all of these achievements we hope to consolidate them in the next years by increasing initiatives of partnership between the public and private sectors one of the principles that the government will ensure to consolidate the principle of fair sharing of risks between both partners is the public and private sector the government will also establish an entity that will look into partnership between the private and public sectors in all aspects it will also develop a database that will be a reference for investors from within Tunisia and from outside and to guarantee stability of this partnership and agreements to serve the interests of both parties Tunisia already is already working on several projects that will be achieved within the framework of this partnership that is mostly internal and the target infrastructure such as projects for production of electricity based on renewable energies, paving roads, projects dealing with phosphate, tourism projects as well as projects in FOX construction projects as well as the high-speed train project between the countries of the Arab Maghreb. We also try to be self-sustainable in Tunisia. However, we realize that we need to explore the world as well. So economies that are based on closure are destined to fail therefore we need to try to merge our economies with economies of other countries. I would like to take this opportunity to extend a call to the Arab businessmen as well as all other businessmen to support our experience in Tunisia and I will say frankly you need to invest in democracy. We all need to invest in democracy and we all need to support this Tunisian model to make sure that it will spread within the Arab world and Africa. We expect a visit from you to Tunisia and we expect you to support this experience and in conclusion I would like to reiterate my thanks to Turkey and for everyone who worked hard to ensure that this forum convenes and I am confident that this forum will achieve its objectives and it will undoubtedly pave the way for clarifying future trends in development and improving the level of cooperation and collaborations given the high caliber of the participants and the themes that are under discussion and I wish you all success in your meetings. Thank you very much. Thank you Prime Minister. Thank you for reminding us of the importance to make this Tunisian transformation succeed. Before Prime Minister Erdogan will formally close this opening session let me on behalf of you thank the members of the panel of this opening session. I would like to reiterate my thanks to the Turkish government but I would like to add here a particular word of gratitude also to highlight the loyalty of our Turkish members. You Turkish members have been a great support, great partners in the last decades of the World Economic Forum and I would like to highlight particularly one person, Sunir Tsapsu because you have been an essential partner and friend in making this and other initiatives happening so thank you. Now the Prime Minister will conclude our opening session of this World Economic Forum taking place here in Istanbul, Prime Minister. Distinguished friends, first of all I would like to thank Mr. Schwab and the esteemed President of the Palestinian Authority and the Prime Minister of Tunisia. We do have a G20 meeting ahead of us this month in Mexico and then following this we have meetings about sustainable development in Rio. These are important summits that are going to take place within a matter of a week. So the World Economic Forum is going to bring certain key issues. I hope that this forum will give as a gift certain key issues. We need to be successful at making that a reality. I believe the world is longing for three main issues. We always talked about global peace but unfortunately it only remained in rhetoric and we were not able to take important steps ahead in that field. We are also longing for love in this world and we need to take further steps for that to become a reality as well but it cannot be unilaterally realized if you extend your arm if the person in front of you hits you and punches you then you will not be able to establish affinity, love or peace and thirdly that is very important as well. Actually the world is actually longing for sharing. On the one hand the least developed countries, the countries that are on the way to develop and then the developed countries. Now the ones that are developing and that are developed do they really reach out to those that are least developed? Can they really find solutions to their problems? Just as Mr. Schwab has said a while ago we have seen this picture in the African countries. Somalia is the most obvious example. We have witnessed that in a very clear manner. The situation of people, those babies who are just made up of a skin and that situation needs to push us under a certain responsibility. We have all the means so Somalia should just take care of itself. We cannot say that or we cannot say the same for Kenya or Ethiopia either. We need to reach out to all of these countries and Turkey is a developing country and about a decade ago we were receiving whereas today we are happy to be the giving country and this is really something to experience because when you assume a certain responsibility then you see what it yields. But there is something that strikes me in the world. The developed countries and the developing countries when they say that they reach out to the least developed countries actually they are not reaching out but they are just sending some reporters and they are paying people to go out to these countries and they call this a help extending their hand. That is not the situation because those reporters just go about those countries. They have certain vehicles and they really receive important sums of money to do that and I do ask the leaders of those countries and I say have you received any money or any other type of assistance and they say no we have not really received anything. We do not usually receive anything. That is where the problem lies. Have you constructed hospital school or infrastructure work if we put the exceptions aside? No, there is no such investment being made in those countries and I hope that this World Economic Forum can yield certain initiatives as such. I hope that we can bring at least some suggestions as solutions and I hope that in the G20 meeting and in the sustainable development meeting in Rio I do hope that we can take steps for the peace of humanity for the love in between human beings. I think this is very important for sharing. I would like to once again thank you for your participation on behalf of my people and my country. Thank you very much.