São Paulo – The financial system is growing in Palestine, according to figures presented on Thursday (3) in the second and last day of the Palestinian Investment Conference, in Bethlehem, West Bank. According to the secretary general at the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, Michel Alaby, who participated in the meeting, the total banking assets of the West Bank and Gaza Strip reached US$ 2.2 billion in the first four months of the year, against US$ 1.6 billion in the same period in 2009.
The figures were disclosed by the president of the Palestine Investment Fund, Mohammad Moustapha. The volume of deposits rose from US$ 1.2 billion to US$ 1.5 billion and the total credit for the private sector rose from US$ 400 million to US$ 650 million in the same comparison. “The growth in deposits shows banking sector confidence,” said Alaby.
Moustapha also announced the constitution of a specific fund to finance the construction of low-income housing, named Al-Amal, to concentrate funds by local, regional and international institutions. The initial capital is US$ 140 million and it should be enough to make possible the construction of 30,000 homes over the next 10 years, with a 25-year period for payment by buyers. The housing deficit in the Palestinian territories reaches 40,000 units.
“Such a program will make possible the generation of jobs and opportunities for small and medium companies,” said Alaby. Among the organisations that support development programs in Palestine are the governments of Great-Britain and the United States and the World Bank.
The North American envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell, who is responsible for the peace process between the Israelis and Palestine, and the former prime minister of Britain, Tony Blair, the representative of the so-called “Quartet on the Middle East”, pointed out that private entrepreneurs play an important part in the local economy and that national and foreign investment generate jobs, income, consumption and, therefore, stability, one of the main problems of Palestine. The private sector supply, mainly by small and medium companies, was the theme of the conference.
Energy
In the area of energy, according to Alaby, the president of the Palestinian Energy Agency, Omar Katana, informs that investment should reach US$ 90 million in the construction of stations for generation of electricity in the West Bank. The works should be developed by companies from Egypt and Jordan and, in the first phase, should have capacity for 200 megawatts, enough to supply one third of the local demand. To supply the needs of the entire population, it would be necessary to build at least four more generating plants.
Still yesterday, according to Alaby, there were panels on tourism, infrastructure, environment, renewable energy, information and communications technology, agriculture and building.
At the end, the Palestinian minister of Economy, Abu Lideh, presented some conclusions on the conference, like the need for reduction of bureaucracy; the confirmation that investment in Palestine generates results, especially in the field of construction and tourism; that several of the projects announced in the first edition of the forum, in 2008, are in development, mainly in construction and telephony; that the marble and granite sector also presents opportunities for investment and that the next meeting of the kind should be promoted next year, in Jerusalem or Gaza, focussing mainly on education and health.
*Translated by Mark Ament
