 Your Excellency, thank you so much for joining us. Good afternoon, everybody. My name is Hadley Gamble, and I'm joined now by the President of the Council of Ministers, Saad Hariri. Welcome. I want to kick off, of course, by talking about Lebanon specifically. You have so many challenges on the horizon. You have over a million refugees that have overstayed their welcome. You also have, of course, fiscal stability, but at the same point, a lot of things draining on the economy as well, a lot of concerns about the fact that where you are geographically even surrounded by war and conflict. But first, I have to ask you a question that everyone in this room would like to know. And that is, what exactly happened to you on November 4, 2017? I think what happened is in the past, and I think we should look for the future. I think what's important for me is concentrating on the benefits that we can get for Lebanon. Look, Lebanon is a country middle of conflicts, and these conflicts affect Lebanon. You talked about a million refugees, they're not a million. They're a million and a half. We've had them for the past six years or seven years now, and we don't know where is the end solution for that. Our relationship with Saudi Arabia and the Gulf State has been a historical relationship that brought a lot of benefits for Lebanon and helped Lebanon in many times of distress. In 2006, we saw a war against Lebanon, who came out to help Lebanon. Saudi Arabia, UAE, all the Gulf States. The relationship between us has been economic, historical, cultural that brought a lot of positivity for Lebanon. We face also challenges in the region, and we have to face them. We have entities in Lebanon who, before 4th of November, did not take part in the disassociation policy that we, when I came back, that the only reason that made me come back and go back to my decision of resigning was that all of the political parties came to the government and agreed that this association policy is a policy of the Lebanese government, and it should be respected by all the Lebanese, by all the political parties. And this is what we agreed on, and this is what made me go back on my decision of resignation. And understandably, you know, where you had a political party who was actively against the Gulf in parts, now we did a new policy, which is the disassociation. This policy will save Lebanon. And the Gulf, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and other countries understand the sensitivities that we have to go through in Lebanon, because we're a country where there are so many different political parties, each one pulling from one side. It took us three years to elect a president. Three years. Imagine three years without the president, three years without an institution that is the head of our country, our parliament was paralyzed, our government was paralyzed, all our institutions were paralyzed. Since the election of President Aoun, today you have a better chance in steering Lebanon from all the storms that surrounds it. So for me, what happened on the 4th of November, like I said, it is in the past, it brought us some positive things, this policy of disassociation. And I think this is the way we need to move forward because this is the only thing that will benefit Lebanon. If we think we can meddle as Lebanese into affairs of other nations, we will pay the price. And just following on to that so we can be clear. There were many reports in the press that you were roughed up in Saudi Arabia. Were you mistreated? I am the prime minister now, am I not? I am standing before you here and I'm leading my country out of many problems and challenges and I'll tell you, my relationship with Saudi Arabia is at its best. So there's no worries about that. Speaking of what you've been able to accomplish during your time in office, you've made some significant reforms, the public-private partnerships, you've also been able to pass a long-awaited election law, you've passed a budget for the first time in I think 12 years, so you've made a lot of progress there. And that's of course, as you mentioned, against the backdrop of a very uneasy political alliance. There are a lot of questions though about what happens next. How are you planning to balance the needs of your Arab allies with the needs of your state? My focus is my state, the benefit for Lebanon. When I call for the disassociation policies, it is definitely to have a best relationship with the Arab world, but it is in the interest of Lebanon to keep the best relationship with those nations, with those countries, because we have children who are working in those countries, we have interest in those countries, we have had historical ties with these countries and we want to invest more in these countries in this relationship. So for me, it is about keeping up, keeping the best relationship with everyone. And on the second hand, yes, the challenges are big. In Lebanon, we have a huge deficit. We need to, you know, but for the first time we had in 12 years, like you said, a budget. We're looking at the 2018 also budget and we don't want any deficit or addition in the deficit. I just signed a circular to all ministries to bring down their budgets by 20%. This is something that we need to do in Lebanon because we cannot, we don't have the luxury to spend. And we are working on the CIP, which is a capital investment fund, a program that we are going to launch in Paris in the conference called the SAID, that President Macron will head. And this is all about the infrastructure of Lebanon. And this will create many new jobs in Lebanon. You know, it's one thing to have 1.5 million refugees. And I understand in the international community there is a fatigue also from helping poor people being killed by the inability of the international community to forge a solution. That is, you know, very sad. But we take it upon ourselves in Lebanon to do a public service for the international community. We are hosting 1.5 million people, refugees, and we need to see how we can sustain that. So you mentioned three international donor conferences. And the question, of course, is obviously it's taken some serious financial and for fiscal engineering to keep the finances of Lebanon on track. That won't last forever. You're looking for investment from abroad. But the question, of course, for investors is, is this a safe place to invest? Is corruption going to be tackled? And for many people, the question is, will you have the political support, particularly from groups like Hezbollah, to do the things that you have to do to get this done? Absolutely. This is a consensus decision that we have to take in the government. And everybody is on board vis-à-vis this whole program of the CIPU. The way I went through this program is I went through with each political party and made sure that they all approved the program. Once we get all the approval of all political parties, I bring it to the council of ministers. We approve it in the council of ministers. We take it to the parliament. We make sure that the parliament approves it and gives the government a mandate to go ahead to Rome, to Paris. And this is what's important about this program. There is a huge consensus in the country. Everybody understands also the risks that we have if we don't do anything. Because really, we run a risk. We cannot sustain this amount of people inside Lebanon as refugees. And we need to create a growth in the economy. This is a medium-term growth. And then we threw also a McKinsey study that is going to look at a sustainable growth in Lebanon. And this is what we're working also on. What about the relationship with the United States? U.S. President Donald Trump arriving in Davos? What are you looking for from that relationship? Because, of course, many people fear that further sanctions on Hezbollah could destabilize the country. Are you worried about that? No, I'm not worried because I think, you know, the focus of the United States is what? It's Hezbollah. It's not the Lebanese people. It's not the Lebanese economy. This is the discussions we're having with the administration. We cannot change the mind of the United States. But we can say to them that if you're focused on Hezbollah, focus on Hezbollah. The Lebanese people are not to blame for the incapability that the region has in dealing with a problem much bigger than it is. And part of this problem, yes, I agree. But do you want to blame Lebanon for the whole problem? Does focusing on Lebanon and crippling Lebanon would make your policy a better policy? And I believe not. I believe that a sound strategy in helping the institutions of Lebanon, the LAF, the ISF, the economy of Lebanon, strengthening, fighting corruption, ensuring there is growth for the Lebanese and also making sure that those who are staying in Lebanon as refugees, they have eventually jobs. If this CIP, hopefully conference is a success, this will allow even those who are staying in Lebanon like the refugees, have jobs in Lebanon and eventually they will be able to train to reconstruct their own country in Syria once you have a peaceful solution in Syria. So what's the greatest threat to Lebanon today in terms of your stability? Is it Hezbollah from within? Is it external allies, non-allies? What is it? Is it U.S. war and policy or the lack thereof? My elections. No, I think there's not one threat. I don't look at it as threat. The only threat I see is Israel taking a kind of action against Lebanon and out of miscalculation. This is the real threat that I believe. I think the other issues are challenges. Yes, and we can manage them because we have the will to manage them. But when Israel decides to launch a war against Lebanon, this is something that is unexplainable. And plus, you know, look at the history. How many times Israel launched wars on Lebanon? Are you anticipating one? Sorry? Are you anticipating one? No. How many wars? In 2006, it launched a war saying that it's going to get rid of Hezbollah, right? Where are we now? Where are we now? And the problem is not only Lebanon. Look at Palestine. If you want peace, you need to accept the other. Talk to the other and accept that he has rights. And those rights are negotiable. Where do you go forward on that question specifically? Because obviously we've seen from the Trump administration, from President Trump, the support from creating, you know, making Jerusalem the capital of Israel. And we've seen so much backlash in the Arab world against that decision. Where do you go from there? Our position on Jerusalem is very clear. But if the United States decides that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, it does not mean that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. Because the whole world is saying Jerusalem is not the capital of Israel. The only way this going to be resolved is for Israel to make peace with the Palestinians. How long do we have to hear about the Palestinian conflict? And I believe that current administration in Israel does not want peace. Full stop. We've seen people in Israel that wanted peace. Do the Americans want peace in your opinion? Of course they do. And I believe that President Trump wants peace, but he's trying a different way maybe, which I don't understand. When you look at the enormous social, economic and security challenges that are facing Lebanon today, the fact that you've been able to maintain this financial stability is quite miraculous, really. What's your outlook for the next 12 months? What do you really want to see happen other than getting a look? I'm focusing a lot on the conference in Paris, because this is a conference that is going to be extremely important. And also I'm relying on our friends in the Arab world, also like Saudi Arabia, UAE. And what I see also what's happening in Saudi Arabia, where you have a lot of openness, you have a lot of Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is doing quite a change in the vision in Saudi Arabia. You see somebody who's taking Saudi Arabia from one place to another, I've never thought I would see this in Saudi Arabia. I've always wished for it, but now I see it happening. This is something that is extremely energetic, extremely well for the region. And plus you see a shift where we want to see the real moderate Islam, where it should be. We are all like this, we want to talk to each other, we want to understand each other. We don't want to say to the other, if he does not believe my own beliefs that you are a traitor or you're somebody who I cannot talk to or I should kill. This is not the way to be in the region. And I think Prince Mohammed bin Salman from Prince of Saudi Arabia understood this and he's working on that. And I see in that a hope for the Arab youth also. And this is where also we rely on Saudi Arabia and the UAE to come along, help Lebanon. Not only we don't want donations, we want people to come and invest in Lebanon. We want to build a real partnership with our Arab countries. It's not about helping Sa'ad or helping Lebanon. We need to forge new partnerships in the region. That means Lebanese should go invest in Egypt. Egyptians need to come invest in Lebanon. And we need to complement each other in the investments that we do for the benefit of the region. This is how Europe does it. This is where, how do you forge the European Union? Where you see agreements, I mean I went to Italy and in Italy they don't produce dairy products because they buy it all from Holland. And I'm sure that Holland does not produce spaghetti because they buy it all from Italy. So we need to work in the same way. We need to complement each other in the agriculture industries and all that. And this is what's important. We haven't done it before. And I think with somebody like Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Saudi Arabia, he can bring people together to do this thing. There are critics of the Crown Prince. Some people say that he's miscalculated politically in the last several months, certainly with what happened with the Ritz Carlton and also in terms of your own surprise resignation from Riyadh. Look, if there weren't any critics, that would be a problem. And I think, you know, the thing is people criticize me. People criticize all political leaders. And I think this is something normal. But I think, look at where we were in the past in Saudi Arabia and where we are today. The hope that, you know, the youth feel in Saudi Arabia. Look, I'll tell you, as a Lebanese, also when I see this is happening in Saudi Arabia, I find it, yes, it's good. And I'm sure a lot of youth in the region find it the same way. Hala, some things are not to the taste of some people, yes. There are going to be decisions that are going to be taken that people will criticize. So what? We have to all be criticized. And if we do, if I do wrong, I've always taken them upon myself. If I do something wrong, I say I did something wrong and I'll fix it. The important thing is not to redo it again and again and again. So you're talking about everyone working together. What would you say is now, today, the greatest existential threat to the region? I think the existential threat to the region is that we are not... Is it Iran? Sorry? Is it Iran? Look, Iran is a country that we need to deal with. Each nation has to take its own interest how to deal with Iran. I believe we in Lebanon, as a Prime Minister, I would like to have the best relationship with Iran, but I would like it state to state, not for somebody to invest in Lebanon without telling me on this issue, like Hezbollah or others. We believe that if nations talk to each other and look at the benefit of the country, this is what makes things sound. Iran represents a challenge in the region, maybe, but dialogue also is a part of resolving these issues, and I think this is something that we look forward. Prime Minister, when you look at what happened over the next 12 months, I asked you what your hopes were in terms of Lebanon specifically, but in terms of the Middle East, in terms of those relationships between Saudi Arabia and Iran, the nuclear agreement, of course, comes up quite often. President Trump is very vociferous in his condemnation of that agreement. Do you think of that nuclear file as resolved that we'll see some sort of rapprochement between Iran and Saudi Arabia? Look, I don't know where this is going as the nuclear deal, but I think there are things that needs to be resolved like the issue of the war in Yemen. Iran cannot meddle in Yemen, like the... Like the medal in Lebanon. It's not only... Look, for Saudi Arabia, Yemen is like when the Kurds decided to do a referendum in Iraq, the Iranians didn't like it at all. And if you ask the Iranians if this referendum succeeded and the Kurds took autonomy, believe me, the Iranians would be somewhere else. They would be going into Kurdistan. Therefore, why do we need to understand the importance of what's happening in the region? Yemen has to be resolved. Iran has to stop meddling in Yemen, and I think the dialogue will open. People need to understand their limits. And finally, when we talk about Lebanon, we talk about the greatest export of the country, and of course that is human capital. But as you say, you're trying desperately to find jobs for the folks that are still inside the country. What's your message to the young people of Lebanon today? Look, I'll tell the young people of Lebanon that they need to come back to Lebanon. We've been... People talk about the instability of Lebanon. I disagree. We are one of the most secure countries in the region. We didn't have an accident. We had ISIS on our borders. We fought them. They weren't able to come into Lebanon. We've stopped so many attacks, better than Europe, better than many other places. We've had an amazing new year. They should see the energy that's in Lebanon today. We are working on a lot of reforms for the youth to be able to work more for startups, for them to be able to function better and work better. Our legal structure in laws were regarding commerce and developing companies and even companies that go bankrupt. We based our laws on a 1950 law. Now we're changing it. Our laws are based on French law. So the French changed it in 1984 and then in 1992 and we're still waiting to change it. But we've taken the decision to change all these laws. We're doing all the reforms that we're supposed to do in Paris III. All of it is in parliament now and we need to just ratify it in parliament. So I tell the youth, come back to your country. There's a lot of chances, especially after the Paris conference, you will see a lot of jobs there. And also we are working a lot on pushing more women to be active in the public sector. My government has put a quota on any appointment and the government has to be 30% for women. Also as a political party, I'll be running with a quota of 30% in those elections. So we may see a woman as a head of women's affairs. That might be a good thing. It might be an improvement. But this is the first time we have in Lebanon a ministry for women affairs. Before we never had it, next time hopefully you will see a different cabinet and much more women in the cabinet. I really believe that if you let women run the show, it will be much more stable and much better for Lebanon. Your Excellency, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you.