Saudi Gazette report

DAVOS — Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said on Tuesday that he has "cautious optimism" about Syria. “There is a great opportunity for Syria to move in a positive direction,” he said while addressing a session titled "Diplomacy in times of chaos", on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum 2025 in the Swiss city of Davos.

Prince Faisal said that the new Syrian administration says the right things in secret and in public, and is open to working with the international community to move in the right direction. “Saudi Arabia has a great desire and a decisive intention to cooperate and deal with Syria in a responsive manner."

The Saudi minister stressed the need to do more to lift the sanctions imposed on Syria, calling on the international community to lift them and assist it in the transitional phase, rebuild the state, and extend a helping hand to the Syrian people.

Prince Faisal revealed his intention to visit Lebanon this week. He considered the election of a president in Lebanon after a long vacuum as a very positive thing. “We want to see real reforms in Lebanon so as to increase our participation, and the talks taking place there so far are encouraging,” he said.

The minister stressed the quest to avoid any war in the region: “Iran must be positive towards the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, and support the agreement. We do not believe that the new US administration is contributing to increasing the risk of war,” he added.

Prince Faisal bin Farhan is heading a high-level Saudi delegation to the forum, which began on Monday and will conclude on Friday. The delegation includes Minister of Commerce Dr. Majed Al-Qasabi, Minister of Tourism Ahmed Al-Khateeb, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Cabinet Member and Climate Affairs Envoy Adel Al-Jubeir, Minister of Investment Eng. Khalid Al-Falih, Minister of Finance Mohammed Al-Jadaan, Minister of Communications and Information Technology Eng. Abdullah Al-Swaha, Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar Alkhorayef, and Minister of Economy and Planning Faisal Al-Ibrahim.

This year's meeting is being held, under the main theme of “Collaboration for the Intelligent Age,” at a time when the world is witnessing an increase in humanitarian, climate, economic and geopolitical challenges. The forum also brings together world leaders to explore the most prominent solutions to global challenges and manage a fair and comprehensive energy transition.

Through its participation, the Saudi delegation aims to cooperate with the international community in the deliberations of innovative solutions to address these challenges, share best practices to stimulate global economic growth, and review the country’s success stories in various fields.

It will highlight Saudi Arabia's role in promoting international dialogue through effective diplomacy aimed at building common ground, highlighting the country's practical, realistic and fair approach to achieving ambitious climate targets, and its contributions to the transition to clean energy levels that support sustainable transformations.

On the sidelines of the WEF, Prince Faisal bin Farhan met with Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, Tunisian Foreign Minister Mohamed Ali Nafti and Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide.

They discussed bilateral relations between Saudi Arabia and Libya, Tunisia and Norway. Their talks also figured regional and international developments, and issues of mutual interest