 Good afternoon, Your Highnesses, Your Majesty, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen. Thank you for being with us on this very important session about the Middle East. Meeting Point or Battleground? I'm honored to be moderating this session. My name is Mina Al Arabi. I'm the editor of The National based in Abu Dhabi. And The National is proud to be working with the World Economic Forum on this session. Welcome to those of you here, but also those of you online following us. If you would like to comment on social media, please use the hashtag WEF23 and we'll get your feedback. So it is an interesting time to be meeting and discussing the Middle East. Often when we come here to the World Economic Forum, we're usually talking about the problems of the region and they haven't gone away. But it has been interesting during the time of the pandemic and immediately after where things seem to be at least simmering down. The heightened tensions of the last few years have simmered down, but they haven't gone away. Conflicts remain. Suffering remains in a number of countries and ultimately that's what matters. How can we alleviate the suffering of those who are not here, who cannot give us their voice? But how can we come up with solutions? And we have 45 minutes to try to move on a couple of these issues. For me as an Iraqi, what's on my mind is 2023, marks 20 years since the Iraq War. And for many, this is a significant milestone to assess what's happened in Iraq, in the region, but globally, geopolitically, what's happened. And so we also meet at a time of global polarization and concerns about the economic welfare of the world. We as a region are not disconnected. We are affected by what happens and we also influence what is happening, both in terms of energy, people flows, knowledge flows. And perhaps we can hopefully bring some peaceful resolutions that can be replicated in other parts of the world. And so for this panel, I have an incredible lineup. His Highness Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud, Minister of Foreign Affairs for Saudi Arabia, his excellent Deputy Prime Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iraq, Mr. Fouad Hussain, and her Excellency Kaisa Olingan, Minister of Defense of Netherlands, and his Excellency Minister Mohammed al-Assad's Minister of Finance of Jordan, and UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Hans Grunberg. Your Highness, I want to start with you. We have seen a smirking down of some of the conflicts of the region. There are moments of reconciliation, some conflicts remain. How would you assess this moment in the Middle East? Well, I'm going to choose to be very optimistic about this moment in the Middle East, and on the theme of this session, battleground or meeting space, I think the Middle East is proving to be very much the meeting space of the world right now. We are in the intersection between East and West. We have clearly taken a decision to be a bridge for the East and the West, and there is a lot of positive activity going on in the region, even with some of the challenges that we continue to face. We have the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, for instance, is the world's fastest-growing economy in this year, but beyond that, what we are doing with our partners, among them, for instance, Iraq, Jordan here at the table, but others, in working on interconnectivity, whether it's on electricity, whether it's building trade, investment, et cetera, there is a true spirit of cooperation building in the region, and I think that spirit of cooperation can be infectious and can also help to resolve some of the still-existing differences and conflicts in the region and beyond. So when we talk about our relationship, for instance, with some of our neighbors, we always say we are focused on investing in our future, in building our developmental path, in building a pathway to sustainable prosperity, not just for the people of Saudi Arabia, but for the people of the region, and that's why we want to work with everybody in the region in that direction. And the sense I get when I talk to my colleagues and when I talk to even people in business, et cetera, is that there is a real energy in the region, and that energy is, I think, noticed also by the wider international community, and that's why you see engagement from countries all over the world, from multinationals all over the world, trying to be part of that energy. So I think we are at a very important moment in our region, and I'm gonna say a very optimistic moment for our region. Now, that optimism, as your Highness said, is also built on the idea of projects, to have joint projects, to have things that allow us to have a future together. What projects are you most excited about that make you optimistic? So obviously I'm most excited about Vision 2030, because that's our national vision, our national reform program, but in the context of the session, one of the key elements of Vision 2030 that we're working on is building the economy of our region, not just of Saudi Arabia. So when we talk about what we do with our neighbors, it's all about investing, it's all about building sustainable economic growth in our region, first because that secures our own national security, it's in our national interest, because if we have a secure stable region, it allows us to focus also on our developmental path. But if we are able to help our neighbors to build strong economies with strong markets, that also then will feed our economic prosperity. So we are very, very keenly focused on any number of things. So we have with Iraq, with Jordan, with all of our neighbors in the region, joint committees where we work on clearly defined goals. So one of the things that the leadership in the kingdom is very keen on is, let us not work on slogans or on broad ideas, let us work on specific targets, let us identify projects and work through those projects. And with every country in the region, the kingdom has projects. And also you can see, so in the Jordan and Iraq and Egypt work together on a trilateral cooperation mechanism. And there are other examples. So there's a lot of activity in the region on focused on working together on building a resilient economic pathway for all of us. Now an important neighbor, of course, is Yemen. And the war in some ways has gone into a lull. There was a truce. Even if it has not been renewed, there's a sense of a truce. Yemen would be an important part of that economic integration if there was a solution. How can the war end? Well, the war can end, it must end through a negotiated solution. That is the only way out, and that is our focus right now. We are working, you know, the UN special representative for Yemen is here with us on the panel, and I'm sure he will do that. But we're working with our partners international community. We're working in any number of ways to find a pathway to a negotiated solution. The government of Yemen is also very focused on finding a pathway to agree with the Houthis on an extension of the truce and then eventually a final permanent ceasefire and a political settlement. The conflict is only going to end through a political settlement, and that needs to be the focus. And I can say that we are making progress, but there's still work to be done. How far is the progress? Can we be optimistic that we'll see an end to this war soon? It's a very good question, and it's a difficult one to answer because you predicting the future is something that one, especially someone in my field of work needs to be very careful about. I just want to say, before going into answering that completely, I just want to thank you for allowing me to be on this panel because as you know, and I'll allow myself to be a bit personal, you know that very well that I am someone with a great level of affinity and love for the Middle East. It's a region that I truly believe in, and the title of this session I think is about whether the Middle East is a battleground or a meeting place. I believe it can be much more than a meeting place. It can be some, there is potential in the Middle East that it can be unleashed. Obviously, there are still conflicts as we noted, and as you're already having us also, I went into the other conflicts. Yemen is one of them. Yemen needs to be settled. You ask, can we see and what are the challenges? Can we see a positive development there or not? I think that what we have seen for the last nine months is a serious development in a good direction. The establishment of the truce on the 2nd of April last year is a significant change. One shouldn't fool oneself and believe that it's the end. It's a first step, but it's a significant step because the truce allowed for the last nine months for the violent exchanges between the boring sides to wind down. We haven't seen full military activity as we have seen before. There are still exchanges, but it's moving in the right direction. More importantly, it has allowed the Yemeni population to feel that the possibility of an end of this long conflict is real. That I think is critical. And therefore, if there is one thing I also want to underline here is the gravity of the moment. The possibility that we have at this moment to take this conflict to an end. And there I am grateful for the cooperation that I have with the Yemen's neighbors, of which Saudi Arabia is one, but also there are others. And those of you who listened to my briefing to the Security Council a couple of days ago will have heard me expressing my gratitude not only to Saudi Arabia, but also to Amman in the intensified efforts that we have seen lately. And in order to take Yemen forward towards what it needs, which is a comprehensive, inclusive political process that leads to the end. But I can also not only stop there, I also need to express my gratitude to the Kingdom of Jordan, which also in my work has also been a serious and an important ally in the work that we have done. And that is also something that I often come back to. But coming back to what you said, I think that believing that ending the war in Yemen is going to be easy. I think one should not fool oneself. It has gone on for almost eight years. The level of mistrust remains. But there are serious steps have been taken lately. And that is something that we all need to build upon right now. Do you mind if I just quickly follow up, I think, just on that point? I mean, we have a truth that's in place, but it's de facto in place. It is actually expired. What we need now is we need to find a way to get that truth back reinstated. So getting that truth in place was real progress. But we need to work to transition that truth into a permanent ceasefire. Is that going to happen? It's not clear right now. There is significant obstacles in the way. But if we can convince the Houthis and the government of Yemen to reach a permanent ceasefire, obviously the coalition will completely support that. And that then can open the way for political progress. Now, the UAE marked yesterday one year since the terrorist attack on the UAE. And it was quite a moment where actually, when I think back a year ago, we thought there was going to be an incredible escalation. And yet from that moment of difficulty and hardship and loss of life, there was also a push towards let's de-escalate. So I want to ask you about the regional impact of Yemen. And in your work, you do not just speak to the Yemenis and the Saudis speak to many in the region, including the Iranians. And so is there a sense that from all the parties in the region, including the Iranians, and I respect that, of course, as a UN employee, you won't divulge what they say to you in private, but a sense that this moment of optimism is actually shared across the region? I truly believe that there is an understanding among all countries in the region, all countries on the Arabian Peninsula and also on the other side of the Gulf that the conflict is not to the benefit of anyone. It has brought pain and misery to 30 million people and needs to come to an end. And there is no way that this conflict can, in any way, represent anything beneficial for the region, regardless of where you watch Yemen from. And there I think I have, during the, since I began my tenure, managed to establish good and healthy relationship with all countries that are neighboring and also others that are engaged on settling the conflict in Yemen. And I think that we are in a moment where there is an understanding on how that the conflict needs to end. Then there will always be differences on how and what and the details will have to be negotiated. But the support of the region and the support of the broader international community, and I cannot also forget the broader one, including the Netherlands, that has also an active role playing also on some particular fights related to Yemen, is absolutely critical in the work that I do. So I want to now change focus and look at Iraq. Also the sense that there's a shift. Iraq started to host regional meetings. We know that there have been a series of meetings between Saudi Arabia and Iran, but also the wider Baghdad Forum and the second iteration was just held in Jordan recently. So, Your Excellency, I want to ask you about Iraq's regional role, but also how it's building its foreign policy, continues to build its foreign policy at a time when neighbors still cause difficulties? Iraq since 2003 became a democratic system and it is an open society. And of course, being an open society and democratic system, it brings with it also some problems. There is a big interaction between the internal politics and external politics. In this case, I'm talking about regional politics. To deal with the internal politics and sometimes conflicts within the Iraqi society, Iraqi politics, we were thinking how we can manage this. So in the first place, we were thinking about how we can manage the problems inside Iraq. So at the end, after discussing and studying this situation, we have seen that the link between the internal politics and regional politics. And there is a huge interaction. So we started to manage also the internal politics outside the border. And to deal with regional politics, dealing with the regional politics, there were many tensions. It is true now, it's less. But there was tension among various countries. And Iraq, because of the fact that Iraq has good relationship almost with all neighboring countries of Iraq. So it was possible for Iraq to contact all these countries. And at the end, to bring them together and to have discussion. First, on bilateral level, and then we had the form version one. We call it Baghdad form. In Baghdad, and then the second meeting was in Amman. The security of the region is interlinked. And there is an interaction. So security inside Iraq needs also security in the region. And security in the region needs security inside Iraq. We have seen it during the attack of the terrorists in Iraq. And at the end, occupying one third of the Iraqi territory and about 50% of the Syrian territory. It was not only a threat to Iraqi society and Iraqi political system. It was a threat to the region, but it was also a threat to international peace. So we need a regional security, in fact. To have regional security, we need dialogue. That's the only way. And we need less tension. And Iraq was able, and is still playing this role, in bringing all these countries together. And we are happy about this role. And the meetings are significant. But often you'll have cynical journalists like myself who will say meetings are great, photo opportunities are great. But then what happens? And you're right to build trust. You need connection. You need this conversation. But then you need the next level. Because Iraq continues to suffer. Be it to drone attacks, be it water resources being cut off and others. So how does that relationship building then develop into securing Iraq further? The relationship between Iraq and Turkey and the relationship between Baghdad and Tehran has to do with the geography. But it has to do also with history, as well as culture and economic interests. So when there are some problems, the question which we raise for ourselves, how are we going to deal with these problems? When we look to the history of the Iraq and we have seen it, that Iraq was in war, internal fighting but also external wars for about 50 years. So that's why in principle, we are against any kind of wars. But at the same time there are conflicts and we have got some problems with Turkey when they attack Iraqi territory as well as Iranian. So how are we going to deal with this? We recognize that there are some organizations inside Iraq, political organizations, which belong to Turkish society or Turkish politics. And they are functioning or they are in no position against Turkish state. At the same time there are some organizations inside Iraq which are against Iranian. And our constitution, constitution, Iraqi constitution doesn't allow us to have organizations on Iraqi soil and operating against our neighboring countries. So we have our own duty. But at the same time attacking another country, this is against international law as well as against the Iraqi sovereignty. So in this case we are in discussion with both countries to be honest with Tehran and Ankara how to stop these attacks in the first place. And how to solve these problems of these organizations which belongs to Iraqi, Iranian opposition and Turkish opposition, how to solve these problems. Once again we are coming back to dialogue. Without dialogue we cannot solve it. These problems are internal problems inside Iran. And the groups which are from Turkey or opposition they are in the opposition against Turkey, they are internal problem inside Turkey. So part of it they must solve it. But part of it we can deal with it but in cooperation with both countries. So we need to have intensive dialogue and real dialogue about solving these problems with both countries. I want to turn to you, your excellency because of course the Netherlands is among the countries that maintains military presence. You were in Iraq recently. And I'd like to ask you about how you assess the security dynamic in Iraq because as Minister Fouad Ahsen just said Iraq's security impacts the region and the world. How do you assess it today? No, absolutely, that's true. I just visited Iraq and what I heard there and also what I'm hearing here today is does give reason for optimism. So I share the optimism that I hear here today but we also have to be fair. There are tensions, there are problems that should be solved by dialogue by resolve also I think to continue. You have a momentum now, a momentum for stability, a momentum for regional cooperation. We always say in the Netherlands it's better to have a good neighbor than a distant friend. And I think that is what we're seeing now. The Middle East is such an important region for the world and stability in the Middle East. It is in our best interest. And while there's so much going on in the world and people think perhaps that we in Europe are now so much focused on the war in Ukraine and yes of course we are but we're not forgetting about the Middle East. Middle East is, we have our partner chips there as well. So if you take Iraq for instance where we were in the fighting mission, fighting dash in the alliance led by the Americans, we are now in a completely different phase where we try to support stabilization and more and more focus on helping the Iraq security institutions, so also the armed forces of course to improve and to professionalize and that is our role. So it's completely different but we don't want to leave and say so the war is over it's stable now, we have other priorities. We want to be a partner. We want to share in the professionalism that we're seeing being built there because it's so important for us. And I think you have to be there for the long run. It's not up to us. It's of course it's up to Iraq and Iraq authorities how this cooperation is taking form and how long we will continue with the cooperation but we are there in friendship because we believe it is important to show that partnership. Dash, how much of a threat do you still see it? Well, it's still a threat but it's not in the same way as it was before. I mean the war against ISIS you could say is one but of course there are still cells, there are still attacks, there are still terrorists there and that has to continue and I think that the Iraq security forces are also doing a good job in dealing with this. If you allow me to react on this issue, in the first place I would like to thank the Dutch government supporting Iraqi security forces as part of the larger alliance against ISIS. They did the excellent job during the fight against ISIS and now giving ISIS to our security forces but also giving training to our military and other security forces. As for Dash, the threat is different of course. The Iraqi forces were able to destroy the so-called Islamic State. The terrorist organization went back to, it is original activity as a terrorist organization. Having said that, there are some threats especially, there are various camps inside Syria and there are various terrorist organization inside Syria including ISIS and as you know it is easy for those terrorists to cross the border and coming from Syria to Iraq. The other aspect of this organization, I mean ISIS, has to do with the ideological background. It is a fact that military-wise they have been defeated but ideologically we must do a lot of work because it is possible for them once again to re-establish themselves and re-organize themselves and once again they will be dangerous not for Iraqi society but for the whole Middle East. So it is important to continue this cooperation. It is important to continue the fight against ISIS in various fields. You raised the fact that the threat is still there ideologically but also there are certain grievances that will remain and there are certain issues to do with economic situations, vast unemployment. Iraq just recently released its numbers of population, 40% of Iraq's population is under the age of 15. We have economics, now that's just Iraq when we look at the region, youngest region in the world. So here we talk about money, not only money but development opportunity, creating opportunity. If we see a momentum here, how do we then translate that? So people on the street feel that there's a difference when conflicts calm down, when people are not thinking not only about extremism but raising arms for whatever it is. So I turn to Minister Al-Assas and I want to ask you about, we have this global fragmentation, we have concerns economically, perhaps the region is not as badly hit as other regions but it's unfortunately looking like it will come to us. How do you deal with that from a financial and economic point of view? Thank you, Mina. I think I'd like to revisit the premise itself, meeting point, conflict point, for whom? I think we need to start to think of the region as an end in itself. Even our name, the Middle East, we used to be the Near East when the center of gravity used to be the old empire, it shifted to the new empire as we became the middle. I think the region needs to be approached indigenously as an end by itself. And I like the momentum that's taking place in the region these days. We are moving towards stability, we're moving towards an era of owning our own future. You know, 10 years ago, you and I were here at the web talking as the conflict shifted from inter-states to intra-states. Well, now we're carrying the scars of both and we're moving forward. Then there was COVID, Stagflation, Russia, Ukraine, and we're still carrying the scars of all and moving forward. But I think we need to be very vigilant as the global economy has become so, I think we used to think of black swans as tail end events. Well, now they're the norm. We've gotten three massive shocks back to back economically globally, which we're still witnessing. And I think we need to start preparing ourselves for these shocks as the norm rather than every blue moon. If you connect all of the above, we kept the economy for the end. I think that's the problem. The problem starts with the economy. The challenge in the Middle East is an economic challenge as much as anything else and that's translating into a political fragmentation. As a minister of finance, through the era of COVID, Stagflation and what have you, my focus is macro stability. And we used to always think that macro stability will yield micro stability. As a byproduct, I think there lies the fault. I think we have to treat it as a prerequisite for macro stability. Households need to believe, genuinely believe in the Arab world that the standard of livings of their children will be better than their own. And it's this deficit of hope that denied the region a lot of its potential that made us stop from dreaming of a better tomorrow. And I think we need to regain the momentum of owning a better future. And it starts with thinking indigenously. Yes, we're in the same body of water, but we're in different boots. There are oil exporters, there are oil importers and within oil importers there are countries which front-loaded reform before the storms hit, like Jordan. We got upgraded at a time when many countries in the world are getting sovereign downgrades and there are countries which haven't. And I think we need to differentiate and vote with our own investment money. What model does the region deserve to have? And that's our starting point. Now, I want to follow up with you, but I'm also cognizant that we're going to run out of time, so I want to open the floor for questions. Please, if we can get a mic here. And if you could kindly identify yourself and who your question is for in the panel. Thank you. Ishan, the ruler of the Washington Post. Good to see you all. Thank you all so much for being here. This is a question I suppose I would direct to the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia. In Washington, there is a great degree of enthusiasm about the Abraham Accords and what has been seen as a real changing shift in the region vis-a-vis Israel, especially from the Gulf states, the states that have recognized or created relations with Israel, and those that are warming to Israel in certain ways. How does the new government that we see in Israel, one that includes incredibly extreme figures in its top ranks, affect this changing trend? I mean, look, Palestine remains an incredibly important evocative issue in our region. It remains to be, it remains incredibly consequential and remains unresolved. And the focus really needs to be on a pathway to resolving this conflict. And that's only going to happen with negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis in the spirit of reaching real agreements and reaching, in the end, we believe, a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. And that should be the priority and that should be engagement that we're doing in the international community. The new government in Israel is sending some signals that maybe are not conducive to that. I hope that in the end, they will see that it is in their interest, not just their interest, but the wider region that they engage seriously on resolving the Palestinian conflict because if we resolve that conflict, if we are able to find a resolution that gives the Palestinians dignity, and I like what Mr. Saves said, just like hope, hope is the key. We need to be able to give the Palestinians hope and the only pathway to hope is a state and dignity and sovereignty for the Palestinian people. If we can do that, that removes a huge drag on the entire region, a source of potential conflict that is always going to be there if not resolved. So that needs to be the focus and certainly that's what we feel is the priority. Any further questions? Wonderful, then I will follow up with you on the point of the deficit of hope. I think some people in the region are too scared to hope, especially those that have been conflict-ridden. And so there is a sense of let's try to get by as much as we can and then you have other countries that have incredible visions and there's prosperity and you have excitement and momentum. So how do you bridge that? And you said investments, I think that's quite important, but if you can drill down more on the economic side and the financial side, what you're looking for? What do you think other countries, private sector should be doing? I think we need to regain the momentum to believe in our ability to move forward. We need to start throwing in a direction that gets us forward rather than balancing the boats from every wave that hits us. And to do that, I think first of all, we need to bridge few gaps. Number one, the gap between intellectual policymakers pontificating here in Davos and reality on the ground where households are really hurting, where unemployment is genuine, where inflation is real, and we need to start giving them a belief that we are working with an understanding of what they're going through. That's one. Second, globalization's benefit did not get distributed in a way that built momentum to maintain it. And I worry about the fragmentation that we're in because we know that globalization is the way to move forward. But what we've seen, beware the eyes of the globalization. And that's the reality. And COVID hit countries in a way that made them look onwards. And we need to make sure that that onward look is not there to stay. Third, I think our youth stopped waiting for the state to come to build their dream. But at least we owe them as a state to stop blocking their dreams, to stop putting bureaucratic obstacles in their dreams. The least we can do is to be enablers or at least to give them a chance to build a future better than the one they grew up in. Saudi is launching its vision. Jordan, we took opportunity of the challenges and we pushed three very deep reform plans. Political for democratic governments to be voted into position. Economic vision for the next 10 years to get our real growth to 5.6 and to create a million jobs. And then an administrative reform program so that we can stop being bureaucratic obstacles in the way of youth. I think the path forward has to be focused on enabling the youth to build the bridge towards calling their own destiny. And that destiny has to stop relying on the state coming to aid them, but rather we need to facilitate entrepreneurship in a time of uncertainty globally. The region for a first time in a while is providing some stability. Stability at the macro economy, at the fiscal stability, at the monetary stability. If we don't capitalize on that to start bringing investment into the region to start creating jobs, I think that would be a very wasted opportunity. Yeah. Just to add because I think that sounds hopeful. That's good. And especially because you have such a young population it's extremely important. And there are, of course, if you look at the threats for the future, they are also, they have to do with climate change, they have to do with water scarcity. So while building on this future, it has to be the new future and the new economy. And I think that because as a defense minister, it's not perhaps what you expect me to say, but I think one of the security things is exactly that, but you succeed in tackling that now and making that transition at the same time by giving the hope to the young people, then it's one less concern for our sector, for the security sector. Can I just have a quick follow-up? The changes in climate can provide a real opportunity for the region in different ways. Jordan can be one of the best spots for solar generation, for green hydrogen export to Europe. It can turn a country like Jordan from a net energy importer to potentially an exporter. That depends on our creativity in capitalizing the moment. I think the global atmosphere we're living in creates challenges, but there are opportunities. But it's on us to actually turn these opportunities to a reality where we failed before is we failed to actually implement. We need to start hearing implementation very quickly. But that point about this is a moment particularly on the issue of climate. And of course, Egypt just hosted COP 27 and the UAE will host COP 28 that many people are excited about, particularly because of the energy question that you can actually bring it together. However, with due respect, we know a lot of this stuff. And as you said, we have these conversations. We know that regional cooperation can bring us much further than where we are now. There are countries that need more people and more employees, and there are countries that have high unemployment. So what stops that? If the solutions are there, people talk about all sorts of possibilities of solutions, regional cooperation. What stops it? I think we need to get out of the mentality of malaise that we've been stuck in for decades that has been prescribed to us by ongoing conflict. Listen, for the first time conflict is not in the Middle East now. And climate change could be actually a position which by countries can actually capitalise on it because it affects our daily life. For us, we're launching a desalination water project in Jordan, not because we want to be trendy, but because it's literally life or death for us. I think we're at an inflection point whereby inaction is no longer tolerated. And I think many of the countries represented on this terrific panel are coming together to build that reality. The challenge really is getting out of the previous mentality. And I believe being here today, listening to these wonderful experiences all across, tells us that it's a situation where all boats must rise. It's going to be very hard to imagine in the Middle East where one country is thriving and the other is suffering. I think the past decade taught us that the spillovers of insecurity in one area spreads very quickly to the other, and we all stand to benefits from ensuring that the future is brighter in all spots in the region. Yemen, before the takeover of the Houthis in Sana'a, the Ku'un Sana'a, and then the war, was the example of the World Bank had billions set out, Saudi Arabia had huge projects. I remember writing about it at length. There were all these great projects that were going to bring people together and so forth, and then the politics got in the way. Is there a way out for Yemen that is based on projects, on economic prosperity, giving people something better to look forward to? No, well, first and foremost, I think what you have said until now, as a communist, it's fascinating because what you talk about, if I may translate what you said and then you have to correct me if you don't agree, but what you're saying basically is that there is a commonality within all countries and that is the need for hope, and that then can be translated into building yourself out of the challenges, the inherent challenges and the different challenges that all the different countries in the Middle East have. There obviously, Yemen is one of the countries with the most severe challenges, and there I think that responding to your question, I think that when I speak about a potential end of the conflict and when I speak about important steps that have been taken the last nine months, the average Yemeni will not have felt that in his or her pocket. There is not going to be more money in the pocket of an average Yemeni just because the fighting has ended. The economic challenges that the Yemenis are facing remain difficult and will have to remain in focus of the international community. There needs to be an understanding that, but to answer you, I believe that Yemen has potential. I believe that with Yemen that has gotten rid of the internal or the difficulties, the violent difficulties that it is facing right now has a potential of redeveloping and taking path that could lead to a more thriving society, but we're not there. And that we shouldn't run too quickly. We should take one step at a time, build on the steps that have been taken right now, and not run forward too quickly believing that we're further than we are. There right now some steps have taken, been taken, but it's very easy for those to wither again. And then we will sit here and be all gloomy. So here, from my point of view, I will take one step and we have been in different discussions talking about that, is taking a step consolidating and then taking the next step and then consolidating so that you don't rush forward too quickly. That I think is critical. And then as a plea for all of you that represent different entities from the international community, make sure that you stand ready to support Yemen when it will need it. Because it will, if the work that I do together with the Yemenis and together with the regional countries actually bear fruit, then Yemen will need support. And that support is going to be more important than ever. Okay, we're running out of time, but I want to close and ask you each to give me a word or two about in the year 2023 to maintain this cautious optimism, but hopefully see next year's discussion that was even better. What's the one element development issue in the region that we should support and we should root for? I'm going to start with you, Your Highness. Further integration and implementation of all the plans that we have announced? For Iraq fighting unemployment among the youth that you mentioned, and for the region more security. Yeah, it's security cooperation. So cooperation in general integration, but security cooperation, maintaining the good cooperation that you have with your international partners in the region, I think it's crucial. And continuing to pointing out that for everybody, no matter what specific interest you have, stability is in everyone's best interest. And I can, obviously I can only mention Yemen and the hope I have that 2023 will represent the year when Yemen will take decisive steps towards a political process that would end its conflict. And there the plea, as I mentioned, is for the broader international communities continued attention to the conflict and support and so that we all move forward jointly in helping the Yemenis build a better future. I think times of global uncertainty mean our good times for us to reassess old paradigms that have paralyzed us for so long and held us back. I think we need to keep pushing forward with the reform momentum. Hold no hostages, keep moving forward. The youth of the region deserve for us to really hand them a better tomorrow. Thank you. Well, I thank you all. Insha'Allah next year we'll have more good news to report, but also not to forget those conflicts that continue. Be it Palestine, be it Syria, be it Libya, it's always difficult in this very limited time to give credit to all those who deserve credit, but credit to the forum for maintaining its interest and importance of the Middle East. And Insha'Allah next year we'll have better news. Thank you all for attending and thank you for tuning in. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you.