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Male Speaker: H.E. Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al Thani, Prime Minister
and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qhatar, Professor Klaus Schwab, Executive Chairman
of the World Economic Forum.
Klaus Schwab: Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, it is my great pleasure to
welcome H.E. Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al Thani, Prime Minister and Minister
of Foreign Affairs of Qhatar.
Your Excellency, it's a special honor for me to welcome you here as a true visionary
in the region and a key shaper of the regional agenda and also as an island
sometimes of economic growth and stability.
So we are all very eager to listen to you and ladies and gentlemen please welcome
His Highness.
H.E. Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al Thani: I will speak in Arabic so if
anyone would like to use their headphones.
In the name of God, the merciful, the compassionate, Your Majesty the King of
Spain, Your Excellencies, Professor Klaus Schwab, ladies and gentlemen, it gives me
great pleasure to be amongst you today to participate in the proceedings of this
important forum which coincides in its current session with the great
developments taking place in our Arab World at the political, economic,
and social levels.
Thus we are all prompted to explore and analyze the causes and motivations that
triggered these events as well as to consider the success and repercussions,
the challenges they pose, and means of overcoming them.
Ladies and gentlemen, the aspirations towards social justice and human dignity
which are sought by our Arab peoples imply the provision of the basic constituents
and prerequisites conducive to the realization of that objective.
It is evident in this regard that many Arab countries have not paid adequate
attention to the building of the sustainable development pillars which
ensure decent living for all citizens.
Hence, despite the good economic performance in recent years experience by
several Arab states as regards levels of growth and achievement of high rates
thereon, such growth was benefiting a certain group of society and was not
translated into tangible gains that could be felt by all citizens.
As a result of such misdistribution of the fruit of development coupled by high
levels of unemployment, illiteracy, and poverty tension increased between rulers
and the ruled.
The unrest witnessed by the region starting first in Tunisia does not only
reflect discontent over the lack of job opportunities, low wages, and prevalence
of poverty but rather represents in one of its principal facets a review for the
options of the economic policy in the region over past decades and the rise of
citizens to choose the optimal economic system of managing the development process.
It is high time that Arab countries reconsider their adopted economic
and social policies as well to explore a new developmental model that would match the
aspirations of their people, all the more so as the paradigm of category development
failed to achieve drastic reforms at the levels of policies and institutions which
ensure the minimum rise of citizens to feel the real returns of growth and not
just restrict that to a specific class of citizens as previously mentioned.
In fact many countries of the Arab World are similar in their possession of the
natural resources and in the productive basis as well as the economic and social
policies they adopt and therefore it is not surprising to be similar in the
challenges they are facing.
The Arab region at the onset of the 21st century faces many economic challenges,
including the issue of water scarcity, the sustainability of the consumption of
natural resources, the deterioration of the environment to cite but a few examples.
There are also the issues of poverty, diversification of income sources, and the
migration of Arab intellectuals abroad. The most urgent and pressing challenge to
the Arab World is the failure to create more job opportunities to address the
aggravating unemployment problem despite achieving relatively high rates of
economic growth.
These failures are one of the trigger causes of the Arab revolutions in Tunisia,
Egypt, Libya, Yemen, and Syria.
Apart form the impacts of the global economic crisis the creation of job
opportunities on a sustainable basis in the Arab World represents the most
important challenge to the Arab development before and after the crisis as
well as over the coming decades. And in such atmosphere of political
uncertainty and unrest which still affects several countries and in the light of the
global economic crisis that crop up whenever the prospects of recovery are
looming, expectations of growth remain in low profile at present and are even prone
to recede. As for the recruitment aspect
and creation of job opportunities it is our belief that the Arab region is the
youngest region in the world as most of its population has not yet reached the age
of 30.
This means that jobs which exceed this figure be created in order to solve the
current unemployment problem. Despite the high rates of economic growth
achieved by many Arab countries this growth was not accompanied by significant
increase in job creation.
While recognizing the impact of the global economic crisis unemployment rates
in the Arab countries, this should not dissuade us from discerning the real
problems faced by the Arab economies.
Over the past three decades and in the absence of the impact of the economic
crisis the economic growth did not achieve its targeted goals in the field of employment.
This was due to the momentum of this growth which is represented in the
investments that were geared towards mainly oil, tourism, and real estate in
addition to the mismanagement of privatization in some countries which in
turn led to a reduction in the number of workers. This meant that the economic growth did
not succeed to a large extent in achieving the reproduction of goods and services
that would have significant impact on employment levels.
The high rates of unemployment in the Arab world in spite of the improvement of
the economic growth are due to the recruitment crisis, whether in the
commodity or service sectors, a result of the structural imbalances caused by the
existing gap between labor, supply, and demand caused by the educational
and training policies as well as the low skills and declined productivity.
In fact, the question of low employment flexibility in the Arab world has two aspects.
First, the weak response of the private sector in recruiting the national manpower
due to the changes in the rates of economic growth;
second, the recession of the fiscal space of many countries and the fallback of
public investment.
Here I would like to briefly indicate the experiment of the State of Qhatar and the
vision of His Highness, the Emir of Qhatar, on development process and balance
approach that are conducive to achieving long term objectives providing a clear
vision of the vibrant society where economic and social justice prevail
confirming the sense of citizenry and striking the right balance between nature
and man. Qhatar National Vision 2030 consider the
people the objectives of all human, social, economic, and environmental
aspects of development.
The Arab Economic Cooperation is still below the level of the aspirations
and potentials expressed by the Arab masses from the dawn of their revolutions.
The Arab peoples have proved that they are able to achieve their ambitions
and aspirations and mobilize the international community to support their causes.
There is no doubt that the Arab revolutions will change the outlook of the
nations of the world to the peoples of the Arab region.
It's expected in this regard that a long term partnership will be initiated between
Arab countries and countries of the west, particularly the group of 8.
On the level of the Arab cooperation the Arab markets, especially that of North
Africa, is generally the most promising among the markets of the other developing countries.
In addition to the abundant natural resources of oil, minerals, and vast Arab
lands which represent the constituents of a prosperous industrial production there
are innate opportunities for growth in tourism and service sectors in the light
of North Africa's distinguished geographical location, potentials,
and that are no less than those of the European countries overlooking the
Mediterranean thus we expect a vast influx of investments in the countries of North
Africa.
The challenge of translating growth rates into wide ranging job opportunities can be
overcome through two approaches. First, developing the infrastructure on
human capital and focusing on the real productive investments especially in the
industrial, agricultural, and tourist sectors which provide national job
opportunities and represent an addition to the financial and human capital.
Second, cooperation between all Arab parties and integration of their efforts
by expanding the Arab basis of productivity and adding new production
capacities that use labor intensive techniques, taking into account the
geographical distribution of workforce of the Arab region.
In conclusion, we underline that the lessons learned from the unrest and crises
from which the world is suffering and whose repercussions have not surfaced in
full yet indicate the gearing of investments towards Arab markets.
It is necessary to establish a favorable economic and commercial atmosphere in the
Arab world. This would facilitate benefiting from the
increasing financial surpluses that some Arab countries would direct towards
productive investments.
Here we should underline that it is most vital for the Arab economies and Arab
institutions to participate in the formulation of the coming global economic
order and be effective partners of it. Distributing the gains of economic growth
equitably would ensure the sustainability of this growth through confirming to the
citizens they are the objectives and means of the development process.
Launching market mechanisms within the development process should go hand in hand
with the greater role to be undertaken by governments in maintaining the overall
economic stability and controlling -- so as to safeguard the gains of development.
It is also necessary to strengthen institutions and seek to achieve high
rates of economic growth in the Arab countries since this will have positive
impact on eliminating -- of social unrest and tension which are besetting these countries.
In addition, it will establish a sound relationship between the ruler and the ruled.
In other words the realization of this goal of economic development and the equal
distribution of wealth will set the suitable ground for the establishment of
a sound democratic life that in turn will avail Arab peoples to live a free
and dignified life that ensure for them the right of possessing their own free will
and building their own future as well as positively interacting with the rapid
development sweeping our contemporary world.
It is also paramount that we increase transparency and activate regulator bodies
to prevent the manifestations of corruption caused by economic
and financial imbalances.
In conclusion I thank you and wish you
every success. May peace and God's blessing and mercy be
upon you.
Klaus Schwab: Your Highness we have time for one or two questions.
You pinpointed the economic weaknesses, challenges, but also the opportunities of
this region.
Turning from economics to politics we all know that you have been an essential
player or played an essential role in reconciliation and peace efforts in the
region in Africa. My question to you would be if you look
now at the political landscape of the Arab region what disturbs your sleep at night,
if I may, what is the foremost concern you have at this particular moment related to
the stability here in this region?
H.E. Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al Thani: Well yesterday I did not sleep
well but because of the mosquitoes.
Anyway, I think what's happening in the Arab world is something unique.
I have to say all of us, not me, or most of us expect something will happen because
it was so calm in the Arab world, so negative in a way that people lost hope
that anything will happen in the Arab world.
For me what happened is good if you can learn the lesson and bad if you continue
to not learn the lesson like the Arabs. We show what starts happening from Tunisia
to all the other Arab countries.
I think the leaders of these region,
they have to do two things.
First of all either they start change and understand exactly what the people want
and what the people don't want and to try to concentrate on how to develop the
country, how to develop the political system. People cannot accept to stay as there was
before January this year.
The second thing is I advice the Arab leaders they don't fight their people
because they want to stay in their position.
I believe our people are more valuable for us than to kill them or to start doing
something against their will.
I don't know what sort of power you will have or you will gain after you kill your
people -- even if you win, you've been defeated because you kill your own people.
You have to see either you work it out with your people or you say "Okay, if my
people don't want me I have to leave."
I think we will respect any leaders do that more than leaders that want to stay
by force against the will of his people.
And we believe that the best scenario is both sides, the people and the President
or the King or the Emir or whatever it is, to be engaged with his people and to try
to work it out between them and try to find a way out of this which let the
people - that's the best scenario instead of burning the countries.
We saw most of the countries which they have revolution, they've been burned out completely.
It reminds us about the Roman or some wars which happens before.
Why do you do all this - because you want power?
What power will you have after doing what you do to your people?
So I believe we have to start to change our attitude, the street they have to
change their attitude, the normal if they found their leaders as willing to change,
willing to do what is necessary, willing to know that he has to step down one day,
not to stay forever or to transfer to his son - that's something we have to find
because that will prevent a lot, Professor Schwab, a lot of financial because most of
these countries now suffer from these conflicts and they need many years to
stand back again because of the loss of their financial capacity in their
countries so that's what actually I'm thinking about.
Klaus Schwab: Sheikh Hamad, I know that referring to your last remarks that you
are following with directly and with great interest what's happening in Europe I want
to use this opportunity also to highlight that you have in this audience
is represented by one of its great statesmen, His Majesty King Juan Carlos from Spain so
we are very grateful for your participation.
But coming back to the European issue I ask you in a similar way as I did recently
to - I posed the question in China to Premier Wen Jiaobao.
Under what conditions would you be ready with your tremendous financial resources
to help to solve the European problem?
H.E. Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al Thani: I will not say help, let us say
cooperation because help in our part of the world as we know it as to give
something to somebody free and today nobody can give anything free.
I think both of us we can benefit from this situation, the European and our
region could benefit if there is a real partnership.
You remember before 2008 most of the Europeans they started gathering in the
west, gather to see the sovereign wealth and how it's been used and it's forbidden
and it's bad, the sovereign wealth is not known, not clear, and all the stories.
Now we found that the sovereign world helps a lot of banks, a lot of countries
to stand on their own because sovereign fund is wealth, legal, from our country,
access money which has not been used in our budget which we are trying to keep it
and save it for the next generation and for our children to try to live in the
same standard which we live so it's our responsibility to take care about the future.
But to help - to go to the same question - I believe first of all what's happened
politically in Europe is getting too complicated.
I think the leader of Europe now the problem is not financial more than it's political.
Everybody thinks about his chair, everybody thinks about the election,
and if you are thinking about election I don't think you can do something in the economic
situation in your country.
The problem you have to think about - your country, how to save your country.
History later will be fair - usually history fair may be a little bit late
sometimes or most of the time but you will get your share if you did the right things
to your country.
The problem, the political - we have 17 parliament in the Euro Zone so 17 opinions.
Although Americans they have one Congress but still they did not agree what to do also.
So the problem is how to let the leadership in Europe and in the United
States get together and know that there is something that has to be fixed.
I'm worried, it's always like -- when it fails. All of us talk later if they save --
we'll not have all of these problems; everybody says now if they save Greece
from the first days it was less baggage, less painful, there will be no problem.
I am worried that always too little late - it reminds me about the Arab Spring,
all the leaders which they have the problem they always give too little too late.
I believe that something big has to be done, I hope by next week Europe as we
know that they are under negotiation now between them and the leadership of
President Sarkozy and Merkel we hope that it leads by next Wednesday about something
that could be positive.
The market is expecting it, I think if there is nothing positive then we will
find a very negative situation not in Europe but in the world which we needs
decades to fix it. It's now easy to be fixed, it will be
very difficult to fix. There is a lot of access of money in our
region that could help in that, participate in that, but there is
a problem of taxation, there is a problem of rules which we have discussed with our
partner in Europe. There is a lot of issues which they need
to be more clear in regulations with us, how they will deal with this fund because
maybe now they want this fund and later they will say "Okay, stop now, we need to
regulate this, we need to see what is this." I don't mind for regulation but what we
are worried that there will be new laws which can put obstacle in our sovereign fund.
Klaus Schwab: So Your Excellency Sheikh Hamad we should send out from this
audience a strong message to Europe to bring its house in order and to do it fast
and to do it in a regionally long term fashion and then coming back to my
question then I understand you also will help but help in terms of investing into Europe.
H.E. Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al Thani: Exactly.
Klaus Schwab: Thank you very much, Sheikh Hamad.