 Welcome everyone in the room and everyone watching on live stream. Allow me to introduce today's panel. We have Stefan Löfven, as close as I'm going to get, Prime Minister of Sweden and Magdalena Andersen, Minister of Finance of Sweden. Prime Minister, the floor is yours. Thank you so much and welcome. The theme of this year's World Economic Forum is Responsive and Responsible Leadership. It is going to require a great deal of the world leaders to meet the concerns we are seeing now in many countries about globalization, unemployment, welfare shortcomings and migration. Immigration is now being manifested all over the world in the growth of right-wing populism and a tendency also for countries to close themselves off and lean towards protectionism. These concerns have been addressed in different ways and discussed in many meetings here in Davos, and world leaders need to take them very seriously. I am convinced that the key to turning these concerns and this frustration into confidence for the future is to be found in more jobs, a strong welfare system and in something that we social democrats have stood for since many, many years, all the time economic equality. Right now everyone is actually talking about equality here in Davos and in other places also all over the world because more and more people are now opening their eyes to the fact that equality is important. It's important for sustainable development both for the ability to keep the society together and also for growth. The IMF as well as the OECD has indicated that there is a positive correlation between a more equal income distribution and growth. So here in Davos there is a great deal of interest also in the Swedish model with a labor market that has delivered major increases in real wages. A welfare society in which your background does not determine your future, making it possible for someone like me who once was a foster child, a welder, an industry worker to become a prime minister. So equality has been not only a buzzword, it is becoming the keyword in addressing sustainable development. Please, finance minister. Thank you. And just as the prime minister said, there has been a great deal of interest in the Swedish model here in Davos, the way we have combined high growth, high employment and equality. And historically Sweden has been good at ensuring that when the economy grows everyone gets its fair share. And it looks different in different countries just taking the U.S. as an example and in the U.S. 90 percent of the population have not seen any wage increases since the 1970s in real wages whereas at the same time the top 1 percent have seen their incomes increase by 200 percent. During the same years in Sweden the picture is completely different for both the 90 percent and the 1 percent have seen their incomes develop at a similar pace. So it's obvious that what policies you choose, what political model you choose makes a difference. And in Sweden we have seen the way large wage increases for broad groups, wage increases in line with productivity growth of course, and this is thanks to strong social partners, but we also see high participation rates at redistribution thanks to a well-functioning welfare system. But at the same time we have, most prominently for the last decade, also seen increased income inequalities in Sweden. And this has been something that this social democratic-led government has been fighting since day one we took office. Not because it's the right thing, we think it's the right thing to do, but also because it is smart economics and just as the Prime Minister said both IMF and OSD points to inclusive growth being both higher but also more sustainable. And therefore it is great to see such an interest for the subject here in Davos, both for Sweden as a model but also for the fact that maybe more can be done going forward. And as has been said equality is on everyone's lips here in Davos and maybe actually equality is becoming the new black. But in order to go forward this must not stop at empty words, it's time for leaders to go from words to action and of course this is something that we have urged the leaders we have met so far and will continue to urge is to act for change. This with this perspective, great equality builds on four pillars. More jobs, better jobs, direct redistribution of resources, but also strong welfare system financed through a well functioning tax system. So let me just start with the first two, number one, more jobs. We need more people to have the possibility to have a job to go to as we must continue to push up employment rates and fight unemployment both in order to of course having a job is a feeling of belonging or pride or contributing to the society but it's also very important for everyone's income. And secondly it's of course not enough to have a job to go to if you cannot earn a living from it so what we need to see is that the prosperity of our corporations and the gains from globalization needs to be felt in the pockets of the employees. And that means also that increased trade and prosperity must benefit everyone and that is what we're seeing today is lacking. And this is why also I've taken the initiative for what I call a global deal. That is an international collaboration between working, sorry, on decent working conditions, or decent working conditions between countries, companies, trade unions and other actors with the aim that the partners should act globally to address the challenges of a global labor market and make it possible for all people to benefit from globalization. That must be the aim. I've seen the enormous power of collaboration between the social partners and society and how that creates a win-win-win situation for the individual employees but also for enterprises, companies and for the whole society. And I urge more of the world leaders to join the global deal for decent working conditions globally. It is essential. Now going back to point number three and four of the ones that the finance minister mentioned, redistribute resources between various income groups through taxes and transfers is very important. If you want to lessen the gaps, the state has to intervene and move some of the resources from those who have a lot to those who have less. And the fourth point, building a strong welfare system with good schools and healthcare for all financed through a well-functioning tax system is also crucial. And not only does welfare make people secure, expanding childcare and elderly care also mean that women, more women, can participate, work and this also benefits the whole society, the entire economy. And nothing of this is impossible. It can be done, it must be done. And now it's time to go from words to deeds. Thank you very much. So we have a couple of microphones in the room so if we can see by show of hand who would like to ask a question to the prime minister and the minister of finance. One at a time. So if we don't have any questions. Okay, wonderful. My name is Ruben Moimann. I am a journalist for the newspaper The Stone Art in Brussels in Belgium. You talked about a global deal and you said you hope that as many participants will join this deal. Have any organizations already done that? Have they joined your deal? Yes, we have several countries also from, let's say from Colombia to Cambodia. Several 11 countries in total. Those are two examples. The international trade union organizations. We have companies, enterprises like H&M, and Scania and ICA group as well. So yes, several have joined but we need more to join. Even if Sweden does not have the same kind of problems like many other countries, we still have a right-wing populist party that is rather strong in parliament. And how do you explain that then? If Sweden has achieved so much economically and still we have a right-wing populist party of that size? If I just may start shortly and then I'll get the floor to the finance minister. We have had eight years before we took office with eight years with growing inequality. Tax reductions for most of the wealthy people and also reducing in the welfare system, creating also in Sweden an insecure system. And what happened in Sweden is the same thing that happens all over the world. If people feel insecure about the future, they turn to the simple solution. Who's got the simple solution? This complex reality. And that happens also in Sweden. What we're doing right now is to change from this just lowering taxes and disinvesting in our welfare system into investing in our common society, building a welfare society that shows everybody you are on board. You will also have a job. If you lose your job, we will help you to another job. You have your individual responsibility but we will take also shared responsibility. We will make sure that you get the training. If you're unemployed, we will make sure also together that you can survive, that you don't have to leave everything just because you're poor. These are the things that we are implementing slowly step by step. We need to take it in a responsible way. And that is what we're showing step by step, how we can change that. Just as the Prime Minister said, I mean, what is driving? I think there are, of course, there are several forces that are driving populism. But I mean, clearly, two of the forces has increased insecurity but also increased income gaps. And this we have also seen in Sweden during the last eight years. If you look, for instance, at the proportion of household with very low incomes has increased significantly, particularly from 2006 to 2010, for instance. But we also see how the active redistribution policy we had during the eight years before we entered office was a policy that was mainly focused on benefitting those income groups with higher incomes compared to those with lower incomes. And of course, with this government, we are using the political tools in the other and the opposite direction. But what we are seeing in front of us right now is that a political landscape is changing rapidly right in front of our eyes. And I think, of course, we need to analyze what are the driving forces behind it. There can be several driving forces. But I am convinced that the increased inequalities but also the increase in security is two of those important driving forces. If you could tell us your name and your question. Hi. My name is Kudak. I'm from Japanese newspaper Nikkei. Yesterday the U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May made clear that now U.K. is leaving the single market and now she wants to new trade agreement with European Union. Could I have your comments and reaction to her speech? And also, are you optimistic about the future negotiations? Well, first, they have to activate the article 50 before we start those negotiations. Well, we have stated from the very beginning, since it was clear that the British people voted for a Brexit, that we want a pragmatic handling of this situation. It is not good for the European Union. Of course, it's not. It will be problematic. It's very, very, very complex negotiations that we have ahead of us. Because we, at the end of the day, we want also to see, I mean, U.K. is there and E.U. is there. Also, after the negotiations, we would like to have a good relationship. But having said that, it's also important to say that there is a difference between membership and not being a member. So you cannot expect to have all the good things that you get as a member without having the obligations and the responsibility also. So there must be a difference. And I also think that, I think, not only U.K., but everybody needs to think through the timetable for these negotiations. Because in practice, we have actually not more than perhaps one and a half year, perhaps a little more. Because if it's supposed to take two years for the new to be implemented, we have one and a half years. The autumn 2018, and that is a very, very short time for these complex negotiations. So I think that U.K. also and the Prime Minister perhaps, and more, and others as well, perhaps is a bit optimistic on the timetable. I think it is also important that the British government now is more clear on what they actually want to achieve with these negotiations. And that will of course simplify the negotiations, where we know at least what the other partner is looking towards. I think that's a good thing. Another good thing is that she was also very clear that the U.K. and the European Union share common values and that she also sees that it is in the interest of the United Kingdom that the European Union is a successful project and that we can move forward both the EU 27 and the United Kingdom. So I would like to thank you all for your questions and of course thank my panelists, Prime Minister of Sweden and Minister of Finance of Sweden, and everyone who was here in the room with us and definitely our audience on live stream. Thank you. The press conference is closed.