 Bismillahirrahmanirrahim, Your Excellency, Prime Minister of the State of Qatar, and Administrator of Interior, Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasr, Your Excellency, Secretary General of Interpol, Mr. Juergen Stock, Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, welcome to Qatar, and welcome to the first major event safety and security conference. The relationship with Interpol and the Supreme Committee started five years ago when we signed the first Memorandum of Understanding, I believe it was in the 81st General Assembly in Rome. Establishing that agreement with Interpol demonstrated our commitment to securing the Middle East's first World Cup, and was a recognition more importantly of the importance of coordination and collaboration between international law enforcement agencies in order to ensure a safe and successful event. The 2012 agreement included amongst many other commitments, a commitment to host conferences such as this week's event, which we are attending, which is an important gathering of experts from within the security field, yourselves. Ladies and gentlemen, you all have vital experience in security relating to major events. You compromise government officials, law enforcement agencies, and officers, academics, private sector representatives, and what is very, very important in this day and age, cybersecurity experts as well. In a world that is growing more connected with every second that passes, the importance of international cooperation across security agencies only increases. Events such as the World Cup or the Olympics will not be safe or secure without an integrated international network of law enforcement bodies working seamlessly together. We need each other, ladies and gentlemen. My hope is that you leave this conference this week with an enhanced understanding of how major events have been secured in the past, and more importantly, what is needed to secure them in the future. And of course, with a specific focus on 2022. And finally, I hope that every individual and organization here leaves with an enhanced understanding and enhanced international network of the very best minds in the world of security and law enforcement. Ladies and gentlemen, Qatar continually works to ensure a safe and secure environment for its people. A stable and secure environment has served as the foundation for our country's rapid development over the last decades. Qatar is renowned on the international stage for its security. In June, the Global Peace Index report, compiled by the Institute for Economics and Peace, ranked Qatar as the most peaceful nation in the Middle East and North Africa for the ninth year running. This record of security extends beyond our region. The World Economic Forum's Travel and Tourism Competitiveness report includes a safety and security rating with Qatar featuring in the top 10 nations in the world, alongside the likes of Switzerland and Singapore. Our vision is to build on Qatar's successful track record. We will host a World Cup in 2022 that is robustly safe and secure based on shared best practices between international and national partners through organization and administration, through data sharing, through knowledge exchange, as well as effective law enforcement. But ladies and gentlemen, this must be combined with the preservation of the environment that we enjoy here in Qatar. Low-key security that is not oppressive. Now to achieve this, the security committee that was established in 2012 has been involved with the planning of local and international events since its inception. Members of the committee have participated in and observed security operations at events such as the 2016 European Championships in France, the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, as well as individual English, Spanish and French league matches amongst many others. The committee has also played an important role in consulting with our stadium engineers and our stakeholders to make sure that the security requirements are captured in the design of our competition venues from the start. Now sitting at the heart of our approach to handling security for 2022 in a preemptive manner is of course the partnership with Interpol and more importantly Project Stadia. Beyond contributing to the security of 2022, the aim of this partnership is to create a center of excellence to assist Interpol member states, yourselves in planning and executing policing and security operations for major sporting events. Now we hope that this partnership leaves a lasting legacy for the international law enforcement community and its approach to planning for events such as the World Cup, the Olympics and many other mega events. I'd like to also include the International Center for Sport Security, the ICSS, who is collaborating on events safety and security, on design security design review, training, as well as on the master schedule for the events. Amongst many others our international partners also include an agreement with the Council of Europe and on a government to government basis we have many relationships with numerous nations including the United Kingdom, whom we've agreed to establish a national police unit for the security of stadiums, the first of its kind in Qatar and in the Middle East. Now ladies and gentlemen, when we discuss the short-term security needs for major events like the World Cup, we must not, we must cultivate a long-term plan to ensure a safe region and world. As the international community works together diligently to combat terrorism, it is vital that individuals, organizations and nations mitigate against the factors that drive vulnerable people down the wrong path. Qatar has assumed a leading role on this front. Our nation is committed to contributing towards global efforts to maintain and enhance international peace and security. Resolving conflict by peaceful means is a key pillar of our foreign policy, as referenced by His Highness the Emir in his address to the General Assembly in the United Nations in September. Qatar recognizes that the global fight against terrorism must be fought feverishly on many fronts through military and intelligence forces and in ending terrorism financing and cyber warfare. However, we consider the elimination of hopelessness which drives desperate people towards such ideologies as the ultimate solution to curbing terrorism and on this front our nation is committed to mediation through dialogue. We are committed to fighting poverty through development and humanitarian assistance and we are committed to investing in education as the ultimate tool to provide a better future for our people in Qatar, for our people in the Middle East and the Arab world and for the people throughout the world. And in that spirit, we in the Supreme Committee have created programs that aim to engage the youth of our region and to ensure that they benefit from 2022. We provide a platform for innovators and we aim to capitalize upon the potential to expand our region's sporting industry in order to contribute towards a job creation that the Middle East's youth and young population desperately needs to sustain its future. Now, there's one event above all events that has the power to unite, to unite people from different backgrounds, from different faiths and from different cultures. And that is the World Cup. And we have always viewed the World Cup in Qatar in 2022 at the first to be held in our region as a unique platform for bringing people together and enhancing understanding between the East and the West. And for us, this is not merely about 64 matches to be played in 28 days in 2022. We see 2022 as a platform for helping our region and our people in the long run. Ladies and gentlemen, I hope this conference serves to further our common goals. And I wish you all a very pleasant stay here in Doha. Thank you very much and good morning.