00:00Well, thank you, Jamara, and good morning, everyone, and welcome to the fifth annual Qatar Economic Forum here in Doha.
00:09And let me begin by thanking His Highness, the Amir of the state of Qatar, for welcoming us here and for being with us this morning.
00:18It's safe to say this forum would not be possible without his continued partnership and the partnership of the Qatar government.
00:25So let's thank them all with a big round of applause.
00:30And to the many heads of state and government, business executives, every delegate and speaker, and all of the viewers watching online around the world, thank you all for joining us.
00:46We are honored.
00:47We have assembled a group of over 2,500 government and business leaders from more than 90 countries with many different perspectives on the volatile times that we are experiencing both in markets and in geopolitics.
01:03And no matter how a person gets the news these days, whether it is on Bloomberg Television, the Bloomberg Terminal, Bloomberg Radio, Bloomberg.com, or Bloomberg Business Week,
01:15it's clear that we're witnessing profound economic disruptions.
01:19Government instability is driving market volatility.
01:23Investors and business leaders are dealing with the fallout of a global trade war, tariff and regulatory uncertainty, and continued military conflicts.
01:35Meanwhile, the effects of the climate crisis are growing more costly and more deadly by every day.
01:43Now, the good news is it's a time of great risks, but also a time of great opportunities.
01:50At Bloomberg, part of our job is not just supporting our customers through uncertainty, but also helping them grow their way out of it.
01:59And to do that, we're constantly enhancing our products to provide decision makers with better data, better analytics, and better insight.
02:08Another way we can help our customers is by hosting the kind of dialogue that can lead to action.
02:15And here in Qatar, we've found a great partner.
02:18Through all the upheaval, Qatar continues to be a positive force for stability and long-term thinking, including on energy.
02:27It ranks among the top exporters of liquefied natural gas, while it also invests billions in renewable energy, both here and abroad.
02:36And that kind of forward-looking economic leadership is something more countries would do well to emulate.
02:45And in a world where people are increasingly prone to shout at one another or take social media to air their grievances in public, Qatar is the place where people come to talk and to listen.
02:58Every time I come to Doha, it's easy to see the commercial progress in the physical environment, the new office buildings, new housing, new hotels, and new museums.
03:10The drive and ambition here is extraordinary, and they are on display all around us.
03:17What people don't see are the quiet corners, the rooms where behind the scenes the hard work of business, partnership, and diplomacy gets done.
03:27Even when the parties fundamentally disagree, even when they fundamentally dislike each other, Qatar is finding ways to help them communicate, which is helping to make the world a better place.
03:41Over the next three days, we want to tap into that spirit of collaboration as we conduct difficult and important conversations.
03:52The road to 2030 transforms the global economy in our forum's organizing theme.
04:00And our next speaker is instrumental in leading that transformation here in Qatar and the Gulf.
04:06His background is investing, stability, and diplomacy, all giving him a valued perspective on the issues we're going to be discussing this week.
04:17And we are honored that he is officially opening the forum once again this year.
04:22So please join me in giving him a warm welcome now, His Excellency, the Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed al-Thani.
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