 I have the great honor to welcome His Majesty King Tula II, the King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Your Majesty, I have the pleasure of knowing you for almost a quarter of a century, and I have to express my deep admiration for you. During such difficult times for the Middle East and the world, you have demonstrated steady leadership, always committed to advancing the lives and livelihoods of the Jordanian people. Under challenging regional circumstances and global circumstances, you have succeeded in maintaining both, I would say, stability in your country, and a constructive dialogue with all sides, which has made Jordan an interlocutor of choice, both regionally and globally. For all those reasons, the Dead Sea has been for many years a place where the World Economic Forum convenes its meeting on the Middle East, and we are so saddened that we couldn't come back at least for a short time. Your Majesty, your effective handling of COVID-19 is a testament to the strengths of Jordan's effective and inclusive institutions, which continue to deliver with your citizens' livelihoods as an utmost priority. Under your leadership, Jordan has also shouldered the burden of one of the largest refugee populations in the world. And you have generously supported them. Your Majesty, you have called for a re-globalization, a reset that is inclusive, resilient and just, and have been a staunch but realistic champion of multilateralism and international cooperation to tackle the most significant global problems that we have faced, not just during this crisis, but I think also in the post-Corona period. We now all look forward to hearing from His Majesty King Abdullah II King of the Hashmed Kingdom of Jordan. Welcome, Your Majesty. Bismillahirrahmanirrahim. My dear friends, it is a pleasure to join your insightful discussions, and I thank my friend, Professor Swab, for inviting me to be a part of this very important meeting. We begin a new year with many of the challenges that marked the last one still rippling into just about every sector. The pandemic continues to ravage our world, and we have barely scratched the surface of its long-term humanitarian and economic implications. Yet I believe there is a glimmer of hope. Some vaccines are ready, and as we start this long overdue healing process, we are better served trying to heal this together. And here we must ensure the efficient and equitable distribution of COVID vaccines, as well as treatments. It is a moral duty to treat the vaccine as a global public good that ensures that low-income and poor countries are not left at the end of the waiting line as high-income countries by the majority of the most promising vaccines. Amidst these challenging times, safeguarding the health and well-being of refugees remains a global responsibility. And as Professor Swab said, as the second highest number of refugees per capita globally, Jordan continues to protect refugees in its pandemic response. And we are among the first countries in the world to start vaccinating refugees for free. But international support is also essential. We must collectively work to develop new policy tools to help us address the problems of today and tomorrow. In Jordan, we have been able to double the rate of financial inclusion over the past six years by relying on digital approaches to increase access to finance for Jordanians and refugees alike. And mobile money account ownership increased as we sought innovative solutions to support workers' families in need. Our global priorities must also include improving access to education and reducing the digital divide while preparing the labour force for the jobs of tomorrow, which are quickly becoming the jobs of today. So investing in SMEs, the backbone of growing economies, is a must to expedite recovery. And as part of our pandemic response, Jordan enabled nearly 13,000 SMEs to move from the informal to the formal economy. And we are one of the top global reformers in the ease of doing business report in 2020. Our economy is ready to recover, but in collaboration with the private sector. My friends, as we work to heal together, we must use the clarity afforded to us in adversity to move confidently into a brighter future together. The pandemic has painfully proven to us that returning to business as usual is neither sustainable nor effective. And so let us rethink and reinvent those ever-present terms of globalization, multilateralism and international community. Let us put equality, inclusivity and dignity at the heart of what they stand for. Our world needs a re-globalization that seeks a sustainable, equitable and green recovery that puts the well-being of our peoples and our planet first. We need to put the emphasis on community in international community to focus on the shared values, aspirations and ideals that unite us. We need to turn multilateral trade into a tool for peace and shared prosperity by increasing the resilience of supply chains and fostering the integration of developing countries to promote inclusive growth. And we all need to rethink the way we deal with our planet. COVID has been a harsh reminder that what we do to nature has dangerous consequences. Let that lesson teach us not to ignore the greater pandemic of climate change. This is, I believe, an urgent crisis that we must address together through creative solutions that prioritize green investments and renewable energy. As one of the world's poorest water countries, Jordan is acutely aware of the threat of climate change. We plan for our recovery to be rooted in green development and infrastructure projects. And our attention to climate change is also key as we work to counter the global threat of food insecurity which has become even greater in the wake of the COVID pandemic with millions of people at the threat of starvation. So we must work collectively to promote the adoption of sustainable agri-tech solutions and improve the resilience of global food systems to ensure accessibility, affordability and quality while protecting our environment. So my friends, this pandemic has made us all equal and let that be one of the positive lessons we take from this difficult time as we look ahead. Let our empathy drive our progress and recovery as we will bridge this to allow the better exchange of not only vital supplies and expertise, but also the exchange of hope and positive ideas. I hope that we let our humanity lead the way. Thank you very much, Professor Schwab. Thank you, Your Majesty. I am delighted that you highlight so much that we are at a very critical moment and I think we have now received what the reasons for unsustainability of the world are, of the course we have chosen until now. So we have to go into the direction which you lined out and I want to particularly highlight also your statesmanship by treating all your citizens as core citizens even if those are refugees or particularly because those are refugees. But Your Majesty, let me come to your country because you will commemorate the 100th anniversary this year of the Jordanian state since its establishment in 1921 and Jordan has found a formula for relative peace and prosperity in the unstable geopolitical landscape. But what milestones do you hope to see achieved in Jordan in the coming years? What is the most aspirational change, Your Majesty, that you have in bringing your country forward and to ensure your country's future? Thank you, Professor. I mean obviously we in Jordan are very proud of the resilience and achievements of our people over the past 100 years despite many regional and international upheavals. Unfortunately if we look over the past 20 years this region has had so many challenges year after year after year but it's really I think the Jordanian people that has allowed us to be able to continue to look forward and look at challenges and turn them into opportunities. It is important as we go through the centennial for our country is now to really identify what does the next 100 years look like and I think that with our young population with their ability to understand what is coming I am extremely optimistic and hopeful. Jordan I think we've always punched beyond above our weight because we believe to always do the right thing. You've mentioned giving vaccines to refugees. I think sometimes Jordan is sometimes taken for granted for a lot of the things that they do because I think everybody knows that Jordan will always do the right thing. But that allows us I think a stronger voice in the international community because we are true to our word we stick to what we say and what we try to do to help people beyond ourselves and I think that's what gives us maybe a unique perspective on how to move forward. As you and I discussed just before this meeting there's a lot of challenges in 2021 as we reset our global aspirations. Jordan will be at the forefront of that. Our young people again digitally minded looking at the fourth industrial revolution I think will be in the best position to take us forward and look at the opportunities not only for our country but for the region and this is I think the year 2021 where we all have to step up and say what can we do not only to help ourselves but it is imperative to help others. As having been so much engaged in conceptualizing the fourth industrial revolution I have to express also let's say my admiration for how your country has embraced particularly with its young generation the technologies of the fourth industrial revolution and particularly digitalization. Let me come back to a last question. It is the equilibrium between taking care of the economy and taking care of the health of the people Jordan has recently announced that car views will be lifted schools and certainly economic sectors will be reopening soon this also depends your majesty on the availability and capability to vaccinate the people rapidly Moving forward how does Jordan plan to protect both lives and livelihoods while gradually reopening the economy and what are coming back to the fourth industrial revolution also what are the sectors you envisaged could present particularly new opportunities for growth and employment in Jordan in the post-COVID period. Well I think we can all admit that there was no right way or nobody can say we were absolutely successful dealing with COVID-19 we all had our good days and bad days Jordan we started out extremely well we were probably the third best country in the world our figures were non-existent in COVID but then as always complacency people getting frustrated and not abiding by social distancing and masks by the end of the summer the numbers started to increase quite dramatically in Jordan and we got ourselves into a very difficult situation but when we were in a good position we immediately thought how do we help others and so we managed to send aid to western countries to eastern countries whether it was in PPEs hospitals on standby to go to western countries we actually sent to Lebanon a field hospital once they had the tragic bombing in the harbor and I think that was the ability of looking beyond ourselves and again in retrospect as we started getting into difficulty countries came to help us and I think that was the new attitude we were very grateful for example to the United Arab Emirates who provided us with a field hospital that I just inaugurated down in the south that has really taken the pressure off we're back in a good position now but I think the challenge is how do we look now at the new world that we're dealing with you mentioned certain sectors and obviously we found at the beginning of the crisis our medical pharmaceutical industry was extremely capable and was able to actually export capabilities very early onwards food industry again was a very big export that we looked at but that led us I think to really looking again at agriculture which I think is one of the main things you'll see coming out of Jordan in 2021 alongside digital capability we managed to really come up with a lot of platforms that help connectivity for Jordan but also something that we exported and so that leads me to I think the major challenge that we're going to face in 2021 is not just going to be vaccines and how that is distributed fairly and equally across the globe one of the other challenges that we identified and you and I talked about this earlier on is going to be food security as vaccines are made available to people the challenge I think in many countries around the world in 2021 towards the end of the year is going to be the challenges of starvation I had mentioned to you before that when we look at the northern hemisphere the northern half of the northern hemisphere agriculture is much more capable than the southern half of the northern hemisphere and quite rightly people feel you know let's think about us first before we think of others and so northern countries will be hoarding grains and wheats that is going to be difficult for countries on the Mediterranean from Morocco all the way to Pakistan and again if you go out towards the Americas so how do we talk to each other to make sure that we have regional packs that create redundancies we saw this in the United States by certain states either on the east coast or the west coast working together to say what do I have to help the other as we look at 2021 food security is going to be something that we're going to have to figure out we're already in touch with many of the countries in the region we because of Arab Spring saw our trade routes being stopped and as a result we started storing so we have an abundance of wheat and grains as Jordan a lot of other countries in the region don't what happens towards the end of 2021-22 when starvation starts to hit certain countries in our area Lebanon is a crisis we have to keep looking at the Yemen I'm sure there may be countries in Africa how do we and again maybe my ask of you and any of the audience that are listening we need I think the tools of being able to communicate to each other of what do we have as extra no country can be resilient on everything so how do we share assets that doing an emergency can be supplied so how do we create these regional packs that allows us to be able to provide a database of what do I have extra that may be of help to you and vice versa what can you do to help me as crisis and there will be some we'll continue to come and challenges over the next year or two Your Majesty if we look at the crisis and if I take what you just said I think the crisis the COVID-19 crisis taught us one thing how much we are interconnected and so my action has an impact on my immediate neighbors and vice versa and the same is true on a national level and as you just mentioned it's so much true on a global level and I also share with you the concern about the upcoming crisis in terms of food supply for everybody so we have to start action now and I can promise you Your Majesty the forum will be very much engaged into this issue of food security If Your Majesty you have one wish apart from paying attention to the issue of food security one wish to the audience, to the large audience which we have one wish for children or one wish for the world what would it be? Communication, we need to start rethinking how we talk to each other we have seen over the past several years inequalities that as you just alluded to we are all in this together the action of one affects the other either positively or negatively and I hope that 2021 as we look at the great reset or the re-globalization let's fix the problems that we all knew were there but maybe it wasn't important to discuss 2020 I think was a shock to all of us it'll take a while for many countries to recover and we will recover at different paces but this is a thing that we can't afford for the grass to look greener on the other side we always have to look at being able to help each other and think beyond ours I know it's human nature to think of me first but I think this year taught us that that doesn't work so can we rebuild the bridges between the international community the international forums with the UN, EU the World Health Organization umbrellas such as the WEF provide if we don't reach out to each other and I've seen for example in one of our neighbors I mean the Israelis have had a very successful rollout of the vaccine however the Palestinians have not well if you look at the connectivity of the Israeli Palestinian people you can't vaccine one part of your society and not the other and think that you're going to be safe that's the number one lesson that COVID taught us that COVID does not care about borders the rich or the poor or whoever and I can see again Israeli businesses that have Palestinian employees saying okay I'm vaccinated and in half of my people are not we're never going to be able to come over this so I think that has to be maybe if I can say move away from politics to practicality we've got to look at the practicalities and the challenges that are ahead of us to be able to communicate with each other and realize that we are one world one small village and talk to each other in dignity to be able to really start I think the new phase after COVID of what the world should look like Your Majesty is this virtual Davos was really and is a great mobilization process to make everybody aware we are the crucial moment of the history of humankind we will come together you mentioned the word practicality in Singapore in end of May and I look very much forward to welcoming you Your Majesty and on behalf of all those who have joined us this morning thank you very much thank you for your wisdom and thank you also for the long standing partnership with the World Economic Forum Thank you my friend and thank you all for watching Thank you