 Hello. Welcome, everybody, towards the end of Davos and Weff 2024. I do hope, as Richard Quess would say, that it has been a profitable one for you. And that you will enjoy and get an awful lot out of our next panel. This is Saudi Arabia the course ahead in 2016, when it launched Vision 2030, where the Kingdom embarked on what was an ambitious 15-year journey strategically designed to completely transform the country domestically and on the global stage today. Midway through that journey and in a climate of geoeconomic and political unease, this session is a chance to reflect on where the Kingdom is at and where it is headed. Now, from a personal standpoint, and to remind people who, and for those who perhaps don't know, I live in the region, I live in the UAE. I run the CNN operation there as managing editor, and I have a nightly news show from there. And I have been in and out of Saudi for more than 10 years, in fact, 9 on 15. And from a personal standpoint, there is absolutely no doubt that the Kingdom is not the Kingdom that I first visited in the early 2010s. This is a country on the move, intent on diversifying away from oil, deploying vast resources across a range of sectors from green, clean energy, mining, logistics and infrastructure to sports, music, tourism. The list goes on. The geopolitical front, Riyadh, cannot be ignored. It has gained in influence. It has normalized ties with Iran. It is front and centre in efforts to both end the war in Gaza and to provide a political horizon for the Palestinians. It has been pivotal in hostage mediation between Russia and Ukraine and has played a key convening role in peace talks to put an end to that war, the conflict in Sudan as well as being currently engaged in talks with the Houthis to end its military engagements there. This is a foreign policy that places an emphasis on diplomatic efforts to smooth relations with its neighbours and to help resolve conflicts both within the region and around the world. This isn't complicated, folks. Regional and global stability and security are vital to the success of not just the transformative vision of the Crown Prince, Vision 2030, but to the rest of the world. My panel today will tackle three key themes. Saudi Arabia's role in a changing world, the country's near-term strategic priorities in the current regional and global context and perspective on how the kingdom plans to achieve long-term stability and inclusive growth. I'm very pleased to welcome my esteemed guest today, Her Royal Highness Princess Rima bin Bandar Al Saud, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the United States, His Excellency Abdel Adal Al-Jubeir, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Climate and the Climate Envoy, His Excellency Mohammed Al-Jutdan, Minister of Finance, His Excellency Faisal Al-Bihami, Minister of Economy and Planning of Saudi Arabia, and we also welcome today A.J. Banger, President of the World Bank. So that's my bit done. Let's crack on. That's... Perspective on the near-term geopolitical environment, and I want to start with you, Ambassador. In the period leading up to October the 7th, Saudi Arabia was actively advancing a new security architecture in the Middle East, which put normalisation with Israel at its heart, actively encouraged by a US administration which sees normalisation as a key pillar of its Middle East policy. Since October the 7th, you've been relentlessly engaged regionally and globally in efforts both to address the immediate humanitarian crisis and to create a viable long-term path forward. Things are terrible in Gaza at present. Some 30,000 people have lost their lives. October the 7th was a terrible tragedy for Israelis. We are at a point, 100 days in, when we are talking about the potential for famine in Gaza. What's your perspective on the situation as you assess it today, and what is the Kingdom most focused on, near-term, short-term, in addressing the humanitarian crisis and to resolve the conflict itself? Well, Becky, thank you for having us today. I think the most important thing to realise is the Kingdom has not put normalisation at the heart of its policy. It's put peace and prosperity at the heart of its policy. So that looks at resolving the finite cause of the Palestinian people who deserve a state. They deserve sovereignty. They deserve a pathway that is irrevocable to their situation. Today you're talking about 30,000 people who've died. Let's talk about those who are living. The children who are limbs are amputated. The people who are hiding in churches. That is not okay in any society to have sewage running around. This is not a solution to peace. This is not a solution to sovereignty. It's also not a path to safety. And while the Kingdom fully recognises the need for Israel to feel safe, it cannot be at the expense of the Palestinian people. So in our plight, in our journey over the past, and not since October 7th, it's horrible and vile and disgusting as what happened that day was, we have to go to the root cause of the instability in the region. 75 years of occupation. Those 75 years led to a plethora and an outroar and a spilling of violence across our region. To your point, it's not complicated. The solution is obvious and the solution is now. And the solution is a two-state solution. The Kingdom since the time of King Fahad has pushed forward with that policy. Since the Arab proposal of peace, we've pushed with King Abdullah for that policy and you heard the Crown Prince say in his own voice, we've never been closer than we were before. But today, cooler heads must prevail. There's trauma and pain on both sides. I can't take that back. But what we can do is cease fire now because how many more children need to die? How many more limbs need to be lost? How many more parents need to lose their livelihood? It can't happen anymore. And the Kingdom has condemned violence on both sides. We do not condemn civilian violence in any capacity. It doesn't matter in which country, which people, which faith. At the end of the day, we are human beings and human beings today must say, cease fire now. Cease fire now? A term, I... A message I hear echoed around the region. We also now hear much talk once again of normalisation. What can you tell us about the prospects for normalising relations with Israel in the short term? When am I asking? This is the question. This part of this session is about the near term, is about the short term. But we can't wait to talk about the long term before we talk about normalisation. So the Kingdom has been quite clear. While there is violence on the ground and the killing persists, we cannot talk about the next day or the day after because we have to solve the immediate. But what I can tell you is the Kingdom has continuously extended a hand for peace. But when we look at the other hand that carries the Palestinian people in statehood for them and that is a responsibility that we have and it's a responsibility that we take seriously. And peace means we have, as I said, the Kingdom's policy is a finite, irrevocable path that is today for the Palestinian people. That is how we get security. We carry peace, we carry prosperity, we carry safety and we deliver it through the Palestinian statehood. How concerned are you about the wider spillover at this point? I'm profoundly concerned, Becky. I am profoundly concerned because today the whole Middle East has been united in its call for peace and de-escalation. But the longer that this goes on, it is inevitable that either a rogue entity or a mistake will happen that will take us back. And I hate to say it, but back to the Stone Age. It is a hot and volatile area, my part of the world. And we do not want the burden for our great-grandchildren to say we could have had a solution. We could have resolved this. We didn't need to be in the state that we're in. And today, leadership says, I feel pain, but I will still do the right thing. My people are hurting, but I will still do the right thing because the future demands it of us. And so we recognise the shock to the Israeli people of what happened on October 7th. But we have to recognise the daily, constant shock that is happening to the men and women of Reza. And it is spilling over to the West Bank. And it is not something that we can turn a blind eye to. An ambassador is spilling into the region. We are seeing a wider regional conflict. Can you worry? Because it's not what we need today. This in 2030 is very clear. The only path to prosperity for the Middle East is unity. It's economic prosperity. It is a balanced, stable region where we, for once and for all, can stop being the headline because of trauma and death and violence, but we can be a headline on prosperity. We've shown it can happen. You've seen the turnaround of the Kingdom. It is impossible to say that it's not possible anywhere else. And we are here ready to take a leadership position. But it is also impossible to move in and lead when you have a population of people who are starving, when you have aid on borders that can't come in. We want better for our world and we are taking a leadership position. But it's impossible when thousands of bombs are being dropped. Ambassador, thank you. AJ, let me bring you in here. The geopolitical situation in the region is extremely tough at this point. The geoeconomic story, sort of near-term, is an interesting one at present. I want to get your perspective on the challenges and global trends, economically and otherwise, that you think are the most significant, shaping the near-term global outlook. First of all, thank you for having me on this panel. I'm with friends and with people whom I have an old relationship with as well. This is not an easy time where they live and where they operate for all kinds of reasons. But to be honest, I think geopolitics is complicated across the world, not just right now in the Middle East. And so if you step back for a second and look at the global economic situation, the World Bank's prediction is that we will have a year in 2024 where growth rates will be 2.4 percent, and that's a little lower than the prior year. That's not the point. The reality is we are headed for the first half decade of this decade, being the lowest growth rate in 30 years. And as Mohammad Al-Jadal and I were discussing outside, without growth, you don't have jobs, you don't have prosperity, and very often without growth, you don't have peace. So I think growth is at the core of our challenges. In this near term and medium term, as we think out a little, there is the challenge that adds to it. There is debt in the emerging economies, which deeply concerns all of us. It's not just foreign debt. It's also domestic debt, which they have taken on in days of low interest rates. There is a situation of geopolitical challenges. There's trade tensions. And I think one should not discount if China's economy slows further, what does that do to our global economic circumstances? So there's a few things that are worrisome. And then, of course, there's the positive, which is we did end up last year doing better than everybody thought we would as a world economy. So that's where I'm coming from. The second big piece that I'd like to bring out is that the thought that you can solve for poverty and prosperity without caring not just about growth, but about climate and pandemics and healthcare and fragility and conflict and violence, I think that thought should be thrown out. And we should recognize that we're dealing with intertwined challenges. They may not make our lives simpler, but that's tough luck. We're in this world. This is what we have to deal with. And right now, these intertwined challenges require a unified way of thinking, which is our biggest challenge. So that's kind of where I'm coming from. With that context, Minister, to date, Saudi Arabia's economy has been remarkably resilient, particularly in the burgeoning non-oil sector. Burgeoning, though being the operative word, oil revenues, of course, remain decisive for maintaining budgetary balance and implementing Vision 2030 investments. There are clear downside risks, especially given your exposure to oil market volatility. With that in mind, can you just give us a sense of your near-term outlook for the Saudi economy, what your most immediate economic policy priorities are? I'm also interested in the role of the public investment fund, which has been a great catalyst for stimulating investment and private investment today. I wonder about the risk there is that that will not crowd out that investment going forward and what you're doing to ensure that doesn't happen. Thank you very much. A few things. Unfortunately, geopolitics have taken almost half of the time, which shows how a risk is that and how serious it is in the region. But at the same time, I can tell you, we are very determined, very conscious to double down on what we are doing for our economy because I think the region and the world needs a strong Saudi. And if we are not strong, we are not going to be able to help the region. The outlook, despite all the multiple shocks that the world have seen over the last few years, is actually very positive because we have brought this from a position of strength, whether it is on the fiscal side where we have used the last seven years to actually enhance the way we manage public finance. More efficiency, less budget deficit. At the same time, focusing on what we spend on and diversifying the economy. It is the non-oil GDP that is our focus. So if you look at oil GDP going down from 70% of our total GDP to today, 35%, that is a significant achievement because that means the non-oil GDP has grown to 65%. If you look at the oil revenues, I mean, when we announced 12 months ago, our budget for 2023, the oil price was about 100, and our production was about 11 million barrels a day. And we ended 23 with an average oil price of 20% less than what it was, and production 17% less than what it was. This shows you the resiliency. Our revenues came more than what we projected. Why? Because we are conservative on our approach to public finance, very conservative on our approach with projecting revenues and in our plans. We diversified the economy, and we are doubling down on that. Whether it is new sectors like tourism, entertainment, sport, culture, technology, or the conventional energy, I would say, oil and non-oil, but also mining, industrial, which is actually now taking a very good share of the non-oil GDP. So that drive is there and will continue towards it while we are focusing, as Princess Rima mentioned, on what is happening in the region, igniting our diplomatic engines to make sure that we also de-escalate, because we need to de-escalate for the economy to prosper. And you see that as the fundamental risk at this point? I think the risks are multiple. I mean, one of them is geopolitical, the other is, you know, a derivative of geopolitical, which is fragmentation, climate change, but you need to focus on your own economy because in your own economy, you need to just make sure that you are resilient within your economy to be able to weather these shocks. Well, let's drill down on the economy. Minister, in the context of the recent COP28, which called for a transition away from fossil fuels, which certainly the conversations and the negotiations face quite some pushback, it has to be said, from the Kingdom in negotiation. What's your assessment of the status of the green transition globally and for the Kingdom? I mean, the Kingdom is looking to be a powerhouse in green energy, not least that of hydrogen, for example. Are you on track at this point? I have to say, over the years, and still I find when I'm talking about the Saudi economy to people, that there is some skepticism still about how real that green transition is. So here's your opportunity to just put it on the table. We are very committed to it. We have been warning the world for the last 40 years that the world needs to find alternative sources of energy because oil is finite and the production of oil is limited. However, the world's appetite for energy is unlimited and that the additional increase of energy supplies have to come from non-oil resources. We've been saying this since the late 70s and early 1980s consistently. We were one of the first countries to experiment with solar energy when we established two towns running completely on solar more than 40 years ago. We are big investors in solar, big investors in wind, big investors in hydrogen. We are committed to it because that's where the future is. We are big investors in high-power transmission lines because we want to be able to connect our green energy to markets in Europe and elsewhere. That's where the future is and it's extremely profitable and we intend to take full advantage of it. There will be no going around fossil fuels. Any way you slice it, fossil fuels will be around for many, many decades because the world needs fossil fuels because they're economical and the important thing will be to be able to produce it efficiently, cleanly, do whatever we can to make sure that it becomes a force for contributing to the environment. And we are against providing unrealistic expectations to people. We are against having conversations based on emotions and grandstanding and trying to score political points. You know, that worries people when people hear what you say. But why would it worry them? Because I'm saying the truth. We are saying we have a problem and the problem has to do with climate change and we need to tackle this problem in a serious scientific manner. We need to deal with it without emotions. We need to deal with it without trying to score political points. We need to be consistent. We can't be hypocritical. We can't be calling for reduction in oil production on one hand and when oil production is reduced, we rant in Raven. We say you're declaring war on the world economy turn on the spigots. It doesn't work this way. We have to be consistent. So we're saying let's produce it efficiently. Let's produce alternative sources of energy so that we can meet future demand growth for energy. Let's see what else we can do in terms of carbon capture. Let's deal with natural processes like greening and let's change attitudes. Let's eliminate waste. Let's eliminate factors that contribute negatively to our climate. And let's fix this problem. We have the science. We have the resources we believe as a global community. What we need is the will and the determination to deal with this issue in a practical, realistic, non-emotional, non-hypercritical manner. We are seeing investment in green and clean energy as part of the transformation of the Saudi economy. So, Faisal, Minister, let me turn to you at this point. We are living in interesting times, of course. In that context, Saudi continues to relentlessly advance its ambitions for transformation and the realization of Vision 2030. I was in the kingdom in 2016 when His Highness Mohammed bin Salman announced the vision. Seven years in and halfway through on that 15-year journey. How has that transformation advanced? And what is the near-term outlook? And as in the next couple of minutes as you explain that, I do wonder what you've learned on the journey, the mistakes perhaps that have been made and the successes that you've had. Sure. Thanks, Becky. First of all, maybe taking a step back. There are challenging times, but it's because of these challenging times, Vision 2030 was put in place. Saudi Arabia is a stronger country. It's a better version of itself, and it will continue to improve. And any country that did reform is in a stronger place today. And because of that, the region is in a stronger place. And because of that, I think the current situation would have been worse without these reforms. So, as His Excellency said, we need to continue our reforms and continue to build strength. We started from a position of strength and we also continue using our diplomatic clout to address these challenges as they come. The region is resilient. It's always faced challenges. And up until recently, most of the wrinkles in the immediate region were ironed out. And we will continue to move towards that progress. I think the evidence is in the progress of Vision 2030. Since 2016, since you've been in Saudi, the economy of Saudi Arabia without oil has increased or grown 20%. It's faster than EU and the U.S. in the same period. In 2022, our fastest growth, a year when we scored the fastest growth in the G20 at 8.7%, people think that's all oil. The non-oil activities grew at 5.9%. Since then, we've been maintaining that momentum at around 5% every quarter. And we've been witnessing more economic activities coming from new sectors that didn't even exist. So we are delivering. This is actually working. Talk about these sectors. So, for example, exported services in the last year in 2023, in the first half, mainly tourism, grew at 135% compared to the year before. That's something that we didn't see before. We want to continue seeing some of these sectors playing. We're focusing on tourism and tourism-related sectors, and industry and industry-related sectors. We want to ultimately be able to export services and products that are competitive. So a user experience that's second to none and product competitiveness that can take complex products to the external market competitively and sustainably. Minister, where do you concede mistakes have been made or at least where have you struggled to see success and what have you learned? There's a lot of successes on the Vision 2030 and there's some things that we didn't get the right the first time, but there's no shame in that. We have a transparent performance culture that's being instilled in the government and in the way we work together as a whole of government approach and whole of society, and we learn by doing. The main lesson learned, I guess, is we continue to think long-term, we continue to challenge ourselves, and there's no shame in correcting, adjusting, and we have to continue to be bold. You allow me to segue very nicely with that sense of long-term vision into the second part of this panel and a discussion of the critical long-term global challenges, the opportunities and the strategic imperatives from the Kingdom's unique vantage point. So, Ambassador, let me turn once again to you. We are seeing an historic transformation unfolding in Saudi Arabia in what is this extremely complex geopolitical arena. We are witnessing intensifying great power competition, the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, instability in Africa, simmering tensions in Asia. We face an array of urgent transnational challenges, it seems, and the institutions, the very institutions of global governance are struggling to mobilise sort of collective action at this point, including in Gaza, as we discussed earlier. What's your perspective on the current state of the international order? And what do you see as critical priorities for achieving long-term stability? So, I think one of the most critical points that you talked about is this lack of collaboration and this competitiveness. It's very healthy to be competitive, but not at the expense of the global economy, global peace and prosperity. And what we have to look at right now is how do we transfer the competition into collective impact, collective work, because that's the only way that we're going to solve not only geopolitical issues, economic issues, climate issues. When we look at the climate crisis, what is happening in the kingdom, will impact the whole region. What happens in the United States of America impacts its whole region. We don't have walls between countries and borders. What happens in the air, what happens in the water, we're all interconnected, and until we recognize the interconnectivity of all of us as human beings, places, land, conflicts, we are not going to come to the solutions that we want. When you look at the Ukraine crisis and the war that's happening there, you'll have some countries say, what does that have to do with me? It has everything to do with you. Food security, climate, the cost of war to the climate. I don't hear anybody talking about it, whether it's in the Ukraine, whether it's in the Congo, whether it's in Sudan, whether it's in Gaza. There is an absolute cost to all of this. When we look at food security, we have to collaborate with each other. We have to collaborate on economically. We have to collaborate on programming. We have to collaborate on opportunity, and I don't see that anymore. We have to revitalize institutions like the United Nations. We have to re-engage actively with the G20, with the Arab League, with the OIC. We have these formulas. We're just not activating them to the best of our abilities because we're looking at competition, not collaboration to solve transnational and global problems. From your perspective, sitting in Washington, as you do, and we've been talking about the current geopolitical climate at present, not least Gaza and the spillover effect, I have to ask you, around the region, I hear a real frustration and a real concern about the Biden administration's long-term plan or lack of it for the region. For Gaza, for Palestinians, and for the wider region. We have seen a U.S. coalition attacking Yemen in, they say, in a defensive posture against the Houthis. And this is about freedom of navigation. I know the region understands it, but there's a real sense of frustration and concern about the region being pulled in to a wider conflict at a time when the region doesn't need it, doesn't want it. It was asked by the U.S. and the West to sort out its region, to sort out its own backyard. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, has taken a lead on doing that, only to see now this escalation in the environment. Do you share those concerns? I'll tell you the answers. We have to go back to the root cause. And for some reason, nobody wants to talk about the root cause. The root cause is if we can solve for the Palestinian people as statehood, we take away the rallying cry. Then we can focus on the economic development of Yemen, the economic development of Syria, the economic development of Iraq, the economic development and stability of Lebanon. And we can have a collective conversation, and this isn't about finger-pointing. We can point fingers all day long, or we could say today moving forward, how do we resolve crisis A so we can resolve the foundational problems of the Middle East, which is we are a region that has been in turmoil for over 20 to 30 years. And today, we need collaborators, not instigators. Instigators are coming because of the root cause. I take from that answer that you do share the frustration and concern around the region that I hear about the lack of a long-term plan here. I think the actual answer is the plan is in our hands. We are the people of the Middle East. We are the people of the region. It is our neighbourhood. And that is the leadership role that the Kingdom has. And what we are asking for is buy-in into our vision, which when we talk about the root cause of instability, it's a two-state solution for the Palestinian people. When we talk about the rest of the region, it's demilitarisation, de-escalation, and a path to peace. And normalisation with other Arab countries and Israel? Saudi++? The normalisation is something that the Kingdom from the time of King Fahad has been putting on the table. But the critical point is not without the Palestinian people. Thank you, Ambassador. AJ. Long-term economic perspective, if you will, from your unique perspective. What do you see as the most important long-term challenges at this point? I guess climate... Her Highness has been talking about climate. Let me pick on that for a minute and let me connect it to young people and jobs. Everybody talks about the Global South having the demographic dividend of young people coming through its pipeline. And I think that's correct. If you give them education and health when they're growing up with clean air and water, and when they are grown up, you give them a job. Because if the job comes economic dignity but even more important, dignity of hope. We need 1.1 billion jobs in the Global South in the next 10 years. We are currently on a run rate to generate 325 million. We have a small problem. And when you look at coups in Africa, you look at photographs on the street. It's all young people. Because they embrace the idea that the world is not delivering for them. So having said that, I said this yesterday in a different context, forecasts are not destiny. We can change things. But what do you have to do to change things? If you don't have electrical connections in a continent of a billion people, 600 million people have no electricity. This is Africa. Not intermittent. No electricity. When they don't have that, that's a basic human right. How do you plan to get jobs in economic growth and human development and education and opportunities for women who don't spend all the time going to collect water from seven miles away? How do you change that without power? So what we have said in Dubai, we will connect 100 million people in West Africa to power, to solar power, renewable energy through the grids over the coming six years until 2030, not 2050, 2030. We're going to announce another 100 million people in East Africa. That's 200 out of the 600. If we can get 200 million people connected in the next six years, we can change the dialogue on this topic. Just one example. I would keep going on climate on methane on the kind of financing we need and so on. To meet this issue of jobs, power, electricity, prosperity, young people, we need to get our arms around this. Jobs sat at the very heart of the... of Vision 2030. The transformation of the Saudi economy was about generating opportunities for young men and women in Saudi, people who live in Saudi, Saudi citizens and others. High-value jobs as well. The unemployment rate pre-2016 was hideous. Talk to me about the long-term sort of prospects here. And also, I think, while I have you, Minister, your perspective on the evolution of the global financial system and the collective action required to ensure its long-term resilience. Good luck with that. I'll be back in 20 minutes. You gave me Ajay's question. But in the job... First of all, I second Ajay. I think, you know, young population is an endowment if you can provide them with jobs or business opportunities. Otherwise, they can be actually a serious liability. There is another name Ajay have for this. In Saudi, currently, I can tell you, first of all, unemployment is dropping gradually but actually very, very promising over the past seven years. And currently, it's at slowest levels. What's more interesting is where the job creation, where historically for decades job creation largely comes from the government, for the last seven years, job creation is coming from a private sector. And we ended up the third quarter of 23 with the highest ever employment by the private sector, 2.3 million. The private sector created during 23, 800,000 jobs actually to November, if I'm not mistaken, 800,000 jobs. That's a lot, Saudis and non-Saudis. But that's a lot. Men and women. Men and women. And come to that. And women participation, which is fueling the economy, is beyond what we have even set as a target in 2030. It's about 36%. And it was 30 in 2030. That was the ambition. Exactly. And now it's 36. And it is growing. The target now has been updated to 40 because we are agile, we wanted to be even more ambitious. What is more interesting is the job quality. If you look at statistics, job quality is increasing. Average bay is increasing for nationals. And the upskilling efforts by the government is actually yielding results. Going back to the financial, I think a few things with multiple shocks. The world is facing serious challenges. And I would say those who are in the lower deck of the ship are feeling the water. Okay? And actually having serious, serious pressure. And for me, without helping growing countries deal with their debt restructuring programs, including the ones, the common framework that we through the G20 have advocated for, we will not give these low-income countries an opportunity to actually grow. Because for you to grow, you need investment. For investments, you need the money. And you need to restructure your debt to be able to access the market. And then the strange thing, and I was talking to Ajai before we came in, we have countries who are very rich and their demographic situation is deteriorating because they don't have young population. And we have countries in Africa, 12 million every year, 12 million. Young men and women reaches the work age in Africa. But Africa creates only 3 million. Jobs. Jobs. So we really need to figure out a way through multilateral development institutions, through collaboration, through promoting multilateralism to find solutions that actually can help the rich, but also can help low-income countries and their people. You acknowledge and can see that those institutions needed reform, correct? I mean, we are living in a world where, and I know that there is reform ongoing with regard and we did a lot of talk about this during the COP28 coverage. Are we in a position to help, I guess is what I'm saying. Are we fit for purpose at this point? I think we are and I think there is now a clear recognition. I think if you asked me a year ago about fragmentation, I would say it is possibly one of the highest ranking risks that faces the world. Today it's actually not the highest, not the second, simply because there is a realization that actually it is bad for everybody. So those who thought that it is going to be the opponent who is going to be hurt, realizing that they are hurting themselves. Fragmentation is inflation. Inflation is losing voters. We are seeing a rewiring of globalization. It has to be said and I think as I come to you, Minister, I want to just get your sense on long term how does Saudi, you know, how do we look at a sort of sustainable economy, a resilient economy which means looking at supply chains. In the past we looked at supply chains, we just talked about costs. These days the rewiring of this global economy, the rewiring of globalization, the de-globalization that we are seeing, in necessity is on the back of this sort of looking at supply chain resilience. And I want to talk to you about what the long term sort of economic picture is for Saudi. Before I do that, Minister, let me just come to you. We were talking about the long term picture with regard to sustainability. What do you see as the long term challenges, opportunities and collective priorities, in particular with respect to climate change? I think cooperation. It was discussed, Princess Rima talked about it and Mr Bangar talked about it. At the end of the day we are all in this together and we will solve it together. I think that there are a lot of opportunities to connect countries. There are a lot of opportunities and in the process of connecting them to reduce tensions, people forget that many of the conflicts in the Middle East are because of water shortages. Many of the conflicts around other parts of the world are because of food shortages. And these are all also related to climate and also related to the environment. So Princess Rima mentioned the point about everything is connected to everything else and we need to deal with it in a comprehensive holistic approach. For example, we are doing things domestically. We have tremendous investments over $186 billion in different initiatives on the environment from waste to energy, from carbon capture, from you name it, we do it. And we do it regionally through our Middle East Green Initiative where we bring in other countries to help them adopt a circular carbon economy approach so they can also deal with these issues and we are dealing with it globally with regards to the water organization, with regards to the plastics in the ocean, and we want to be an example for the world on what needs to happen in order to confront the challenge of climate change. And we are a serious example because at the same time we're also the largest exporter of oil and so people think it's a contradiction and it's not. We are leading by example, we are setting standards, we're not following standards and we're doing this because it's good for us, it's good for the global community, it's good for prosperity, it's good for peace, it's good for security. I think we go back to the original question. The way we move forward is by cooperating, by linking countries, by linking supply chains, by linking infrastructure, by linking efforts, by linking science, technology efforts. And it feels as if that linkage is changing certainly with near-shoring and friend-shoring. Minister, how do you ensure a long-term, sustainable Saudi economy? We're halfway through what is an enormous injection of sort of energy and ambition and money off the back of the public investment fund and we didn't talk enough perhaps about how that may or may not crowd out or in investment going forward. But as you look at the sort of economic picture and the play and the sectors that you are developing, how did they ensure that Saudi has a long-term sustainable economy in the future? Sure, through three things. Accelerating our diversification plans, we're seeding today sectors and actually jumping into sectors and co-authoring their future and actually mobilising our assets and resources more than ever before in partnerships with the rest of the global community, whether investments, investors, governments or businesses as well. Continuing to invest in our people, the potential of the youth. We also sit between Stage 2 and 3 and the demographic dividend and the world is changing dramatically. We want to make sure that people in Saudi Arabia are equipped not only with healthcare and education and the tools and the skills but also with the opportunities that the kingdom is becoming a global capital of. And the last thing is we're building all of this on strong institutions but we realise that with the transformation and as the world evolves new institutions are taking shape in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is no longer just a source of capital. It's a platform for growth for people, individuals, households, companies, businesses, ideas, innovators and so on and so forth. And we're betting on the region. We're talking to all 54 African nations. We have an elaborate strategy. It's just an example with Africa. His Excellency was mentioning some of the results of our in-depth look at this. This is making the region even more attractive as a place for people to relocate or set up their platforms in the kingdom. Can I just ask one question and perhaps I don't know which one of you wants to answer? You're taking a big bet on China. And as Ajay pointed out, this is a big bet particularly when we look at the state of the Chinese economy. Is it a risk? No, it is not. China is our largest trading partner and we are doubling down with them as we are doing with the rest of the world. And if you go to China you will see that what you hear in the news is not as what is happening in the ground. They are growing at 5%. One of the things I actually said on that is not only that is there a risk on their economy. The reality is you ignore a economy of that size at your own peril. It is a real part of the economy today. They're undergoing change but they're very much an active partner in many parts of the things that all of us are doing. To all of you, thank you. I would be remiss if I did not close Ambassador with further perspective from you. I just want to give you the last minute or so and we're already over, so by the way, I'm going over. Sorry everybody. The present moment feels fragile and the longer-term future does feel highly uncertain. In addition to advancing its own historic transformation, the Kingdom says and intends to help shape our collective future in increasingly important ways. How? Number one has excellently stated, investing in our youth. Our youth is the biggest gift we can give to the world and educated, dynamic, hyper-engaged young people that will go out and create a positive impact. Number two, by leading and stewarding peace in our region and making the Middle East a dynamic and vital and thriving economic block that can trade with and encourage global economies to thrive. And the third and the simplest way, by inspiring young people all around the world that if they commit to delivering the best of themselves, their nations will rise because our nation is rising because of our young people, young leadership, inspiring young people to deliver on a vision that will have global impact. Thank you. Thank you all. Before we finish, I hope this was valuable. I certainly...it's been hugely valuable to me. I hope that it's been valuable to everybody here. Before...thank you. Before we close, your Excellency Alibrahim, I understand that you have a very special announcement. Yes. Well, I understand that this year, the annual meeting has attracted the highest number of participants. It's, I think, a sign that even in the time of uncertainty, people rely on global platforms to find answers. And the World Economic Forum is an exemplar global platform. In April, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will be hosting a World Economic Forum special meeting that will focus on global collaboration, growth, and energy, and all the topics related to it. Riyadh and the Kingdom is becoming a capital for progress on a lot of fields and a lot of sectors, but also a global thought leadership capital. We believe that that platform will help the World Economic Forum, will help the Kingdom, and will help all our partners engage in finding the right answers to the problems at hand. And I think Borgi is here, who will... Borgi. Floor is yours. Professor Faisal, first congratulations on a great panel. Thank you. Well, don't congratulate me, congratulate the panelists. It shows also all the changes that have taken place in the Kingdom, the reforms, and also that has led to growth and opportunities for a very, very young population. And we feel also very privileged at the World Economic Forum to have such a great industrial delegation from Saudi Arabia. They have been participating all over in our program. So thank you for that. And based on the leadership that the Kingdom is now showing in many of the areas that has been underlined here, we started discussions with the Crown Prince and also with the Ministers on how can we capture this in a special meeting in the Kingdom. The problem was that we have not resumed any meetings post-COVID outside Winter Davos and Summer Davos. So we will have our first meeting outside Winter Davos and Summer Davos. In Riyadh, 28 and 29th of April, this spring, and as Minister Faisal said, global cooperation could not be more relevant, I think. Then we look at growth. We have to revive growth. It's under the trend growth. And then we also look at energy for development as also the head of the World Bank, actually mentioned there is 600, 700 million people on our planet that don't even have any kind of access to electricity. So we have to square this circle, decoupling, but also securing energy. All this will happen in Riyadh, 28 and 29th of April, and big thanks to the Saudi delegation and to your leadership, and we're looking forward to the meeting. Thank you. And with that, we will close the session. Thank you, everybody.