His Majesty King Abdullah II
Closing Plenary Address at the World
Economic Forum
by His Majesty King Abdullah II
May 17, 2004
Peace, stability and prosperity must guide our efforts of reform — King
Following is the full text of His Majesty King Abdullah's closing plenary
address at the World Economic Forum.
Professor Schwab, excellencies,
Every change begins with a vision and a decision to take action. But every
change needs extraordinary times and special people. The last three days have
been quite extraordinary indeed. They have witnessed the launch of a process to
turn the thoughts of entrepreneurs and leaders into action, action that will
benefit our region and our world. Men and women meeting here have been
relentless in the pursuit of their vision, people who simply will not take “no”
for an answer, who will not give up until they have spread their ideas as far as
they possibly can. This is the vision that can shift behaviour patterns and
perceptions. This is the leadership that can make change happen.
This is the real challenge that we set ourselves to face in this meeting: To
marshall the determination and the will that we need, to address the still
unanswered question of Palestine, to find the solution for the future of Iraq,
and to fight to restore our humanity, our values and our innocence.
Over the last few days, we managed to align different interests, abilities and
beliefs to produce changes that are meaningful, indeed essential, for this
region. We all agreed that change is urgently needed. We are all conscious of
the entrenched poverty, failing education systems and continued violence in this
region. We therefore concluded that the long-term interests of society must take
priority over the short-term considerations of politicians. Peace, stability and
prosperity must always guide our efforts of reform, of positive change.
We must also establish benchmarks and milestones along the way to measure
success, and evaluate drawbacks, and most important to calculate the cost of the
missed opportunities. This is the programme of action that will be produced
within the next few months by a group of leading members of Arab civil society
and government, who met here to start to define a vision for 2010. It will
articulate practical steps and concrete policies that must be implemented by
governments to effect positive change. It will build on present initiatives and
will offer tangible effects that will be understood and appreciated by the
people of the region.
The main impetus for action continues to be the conflict between Palestinians
and Israelis. The real challenge here is to arrive at the belief that we can
solve the problem. This has become doubtful in recent months, and our faith must
be restored in our collective ability to hold to the vision no matter how
disruptive the forces that surround us. We must bring justice for the
Palestinians. We must offer security for the Israelis. We must take action for
change.
Friends,
The compelling need for reform is the quest of the Arab youth. More young Arabs
today have the freedom, time, social mobility and confidence to face the real
challenge of the future. We can no longer afford to deny the younger generations
the fulfilment of their expectations of knowledge and freedom. We can no longer
afford the denial of rights based on gender. Neither can we afford to deny the
sanctity of free expression to all those whose opinions will undoubtedly
contribute to strengthening our political and social culture. The capacity to
cause change grows in societies over time, as small-scale efforts lead gradually
to larger ones. But the process needs a beginning, a taste of success that helps
people form the belief that it is possible to make the world a better safer
place. In this region, if we want to start to effect this positive change, we
must address our young, our future. They are the ones who will determine the
shape of things to come. They are the global citizens of humanity.
Those who act on this belief will spread it to others. Their stories must be
heard.
Thank you very much.