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Børge Brende, President and CEO, World Economic Forum: So I'm going to start with Sheikh Mohammed Al Thani, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Qatar. On Gaza, I think you have spent 24/7 the last year on that.

HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs: Thank you, thank you very much, Borge.

Børge Brende: And will it last?

HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs: Well, let's be hopeful and look, it's still a long way to go and we are, with what have happened throughout the last 15 months and negotiating this very difficult conflict. It showed us that everything can be resolved through talks and through engagement and through negotiations. And you know, we started this week with good news. We have seen the ceasefire in place. We have seen the humanitarian aid coming in. We have seen hostages going back and we hope that this will be just you know a first step towards stability.

Now, whether it's lost or not, I think this question should be posed to the parties of the conflict, and they need to adhere to what they agreed upon in the agreement. And basically, us as guarantors and as mediators in this agreement, we have to ensure that every step is implemented as it's agreed. But it all depends how you know – if they are embarking in this in good faith, this is will last and hopefully will lead to phase two will lead to a permanent ceasefire and hopefully we will have the time to address the real issue and to put an end for this conflict that's been there for decades.

Børge Brende: Do you think and do you see a role now in the reconstruction of Gaza for the PA in Ramallah taking on the role?

HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs: Look, of course, you know, there are a lot of talks and a lot of conversations about the day after in Gaza, and the reconstruction and what will happen next. I believe, you know, this question primarily need to be answered by the Palestinian people and what they will agree on. I don't see that there is any country in position to dictate anything on them on the way that they will be governed. We hope to see the PA back in Gaza. We hope to see them, to see a government that will really address the issues of the people over there. And there are a lot, and there is a long way to go with Gaza and the destruction. Look what we have seen in the images in the press in the news for the last 15 months, didn't make justice well for the real situation over there and now we will start to see what real catastrophe it left behind it.

Børge Brende: A lot of changes in a very short time in the Middle East. So there is a new president in Lebanon, there is a new prime minister. Assad is gone, he is now in Moscow. The new foreign minister of Syria is on his way here to Davos. He couldn't make this panel, but he is going to participate in other panels. And also we see that the situation in Iran is also changing so and then we have a new president in the US with his inaugural address yesterday and also with his clear views on the region. So where do you see the Middle East in the year and also then with this new administration in the US?

HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs: Well, its you know, when I started with, you know, we are hopeful about this deal in Gaza that will lead to a ceasefire. There are a lot of you know good news that happened despite all the crisis that we've been through in the last year. Lebanon have a president. Syria, we have seen an end of a brutal regime that killed and displaced its people for the last 13 years.

We have seen a ceasefire in Gaza that we hope that it will last and will become a permanent ceasefire and hopefully to lead to a solution to the conflict. There are a lot of good things happening that we need to build upon. Now, of course, with the new president in the United States, he's not a stranger to the Middle East. He's been a president from 2016-2021.

We believe there are a lot of good opportunities that we can work together and collaborate with him in order to exploit and to make the Middle East a stable region. We have seen some movements and also we have seen them in motion actually when during the negotiations in the last two days, Steve Witkoff, the presidential envoy for the Middle East, made a big difference and I've seen a real partner in him that we got it together across the finish line.

Børge Brende: He even put Netanyahu under pressure didn't he?

HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs: Well it's the job of the mediator to put every party under pressure to end this conflict and we have seen that this is bringing results and bringing a real outcome now when it comes to what we are seeing from President Trump. You know, the whole notion of making America great again is something very important, and we believe that also we want to see the Middle East great again. We want to see a leadership that's happening in the Middle East taking over and addressing its own conflicts and hopefully coming up with solutions.

We have seen a greater collaboration throughout the last year between all other Middle Eastern partner in order to find solutions whether it comes to the issue in Gaza or the issue in Syria and we hope to see Europe great again and the whole world is greater again.

Børge Brende: Thank you for mentioning that. I was just waiting for that. Inshallah. Making Europe great again. I think we're on it. You heard President von der Leyen earlier today. You just came from Damascus, didn't you?

HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs: Yeah.

Børge Brende: Yeah. So I'm going to use that also as a segue to Prince Faisal, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, but what are you, are you more convinced about your commitment to be inclusive and on the path of something that can be good after your visit?

HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs: Well, as I mentioned, first to see an end of a brutal regime that killed and committed war crimes against its own people is good news. Yet it's a transition period and still a long way to go towards stability. But we have hope, we have faith in the Syrian people. Syrian people are very productive, very active, very innovative. We have seen them in the diaspora. We have seen them as refugees, started as refugees, and they became a vital element in different economies. They are engineers, doctors, businessmen, and very successful ones.

And we see that this is, if things will come together without any spoilers and the new administration in Syria will also engage with everyone inclusively and what we have heard actually from Damascus is very promising, and our hope that this will take them from, you know all the pains of the civil war in the last 13 years to a new chapter for Syria where Syria is a stable country, very productive and also a core of stability in the entire region.