WEF 2026 Concludes: Larry Fink, Brende Deliver Stark Warnings on Economy, Collaboration,Growth |AC1E

Now, please stay where you are for just a moment because I'd like to introduce Fazulu Lulraham. He's the minister of economy and planning of Saudi Arabia to the stage to deliver some brief remarks about something special that is coming up very, very soon.

Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to first start by thanking Larry, Andre, and Borg and the forum team for putting together a remarkable week, to say the least. As we reflect on the global outlook, uncertainty has weighed heavily on expectations. Expectations about growth, inflation, debt, trade, investment, and of course, geopolitical risk. Yet, the reality has been more resilient than expected. Despite uncertainty, the global economy has endured, adjusted, and continued to move forward. But what is clear and perhaps clearer this year than ever before is what has surfaced as we have tried often repeatedly to tackle these challenges. Pragmatism has become scarce. Trust has become increasingly transactional. Collaboration is narrowing and in fact sometimes losing momentum. And too often voices speak but fewer are truly heard. And if we think about it, if you think about stability, stability can't be quickly built and it can't be bought. Stability needs to be founded, nurtured, protected, reinforced, and guided. Stability is non-negotiable. When trust and collaboration are genuine, they compound over time, reinforcing one another so that progress holds when circumstances change. This is where the focus must shift. Like our colleagues said, not towards the status quo, but towards the ingredients that make collaboration actually count: being pragmatic and thinking long term with the discipline to follow through beyond intent and ambition, and the persistence to remain engaged even when views diverge, especially when views diverge. No single convening, no matter how well-intentioned, will resolve every global challenge. But each time there's an opportunity, an opportunity for all of us to be resolute and deeply invested and for us to build the culture that allows cooperation to function in the first place. A culture that nurtures strength and progress and unlocks the potential of the global economy in all its diversity: every country, every region, and every economy to stand shoulder to shoulder and confront complexity, work through it rather than force or accept artificial convergence or watered-down consensus. When confronted with uncertainty, our late founding king, King Abdaziz once said, which captured a simple yet powerful idea. Facing challenges requires strength and confidence to move forward, especially when conditions are difficult. For there is no virtue in weakness. We cannot sit idle and wait for decisive moments. We cannot keep talking about multiple futures. What future do we want to see? And what are we going to do to get there? Seriously and repetitively. As much as we want to believe this boxing match will end with a knockout blow, reality keeps reminding us and teaching us that this is the full 12 rounds. And it is in this spirit that I'm honored to extend an invitation to you to join us in Jedda, Saudi Arabia for the World Economic Forum Global Collaboration and Growth Meeting this April under the patronage of his Royal Highness Crown Prince and Prime Minister Muhammad bin Salman. This forms part of an ongoing effort that builds on the momentum of the World Economic Forum special meeting held in Riyadh and more importantly on the platform from Saudi Arabia has become a global capital of pragmatism and of consequence. At a time when the global economy is confronting long-standing structural challenges, this effort helps move cooperation from intent to outcome by setting clear expectations, anchoring responsibilities and ultimately making dialogue count. See you all in Jeddah. Thank you very much.

Thank you. It has been a remarkable week. And we owe an enormous thanks to all of the folks who work at the World Economic Forum. But right now it is my privilege to introduce Borg of course, he is the president and CEO of the World Economic Forum to the stage for some final remarks for this remarkable week. Please.

Thank you. Andrea Sorin, thank you to this great panel. I'm so proud that the three women on the panel are also on our board of directors: Christine, Dr. Angosi, and Cristina. So, we really have great supervision and inspiration. Dear friends, it's surreal that it's Friday and we're seeing the end of the meeting. I thank you all for participating in this annual meeting very actively and a special thank you to our two co-chairs, Andrea Hoffman and Larry Fink, for exceptional cooperation. And I tell you they have really worked tirelessly and very committed to make this annual meeting happen and also to the real mission of the World Economic Forum. And of course, as Andrew already mentioned, I send a monumental thank you to all my colleagues at the World Economic Forum that we pulled off this meeting. I'm so proud. Thank you. The forum is, in my view at least, the world's leading platform for multistakeholder dialogue on the most complex and often contested issues of the day. We convene, as we have seen during these days, very diverse voices from across government, business and civil society, which means that we do not always see agreement. Sometimes we really see strong disagreements. And that's okay because the purpose of the week and the forum's work over the year is to create a trusted space for dialogue. Dialogue is a prerequisite for moving the world forward. If you don't even have a dialogue, you will not see any results. We are not supposed to be like an echo chamber of consensus, unlocking potentials for responsible AI as the panel touched on, strengthening markets, facilitating engagements to address conflict, discussing how to reach real inclusive growth and also wealth trickling down happen if decision makers who do not always see eye to eye talk to each other. This type of dialogue, real dialogue, is never easy. It requires patience, commitment and creativity. But it is really necessary because the absence of discourse deepens division. I think pages of history have shown us that it is really filled with walls rising and tension mounting at times, but also of leaders working to find areas of agreement in challenging moments. I think that is what we have seen also during this week. I'm really so heartened to see that this year's annual meeting convened 3,000 participants from 130 countries, 830 CEOs and chairs, 64 heads of state and government, and the numbers were growing every day during the meeting. It's a record. It is a real testament to the fact that in one of the most complex global moments in generations, leaders were committed and inspired by our team's spirit of dialogue. It is my hope that we can carry this forward in the year ahead and beyond. And the first test will be in the spring in the kingdom in Jeddah, 22nd of April. So, I have to admit relieved but also inspired and very thankful. And I would like the two co-chairs, if you don't mind, to join me here on stage so we can give them a big hug and applause and thank them. Thank you.