Boosting small business in the Occupied Palestinian Territories
23 May 2008
At a meeting this week of world business leaders, Douglas Alexander, Secretary
of State for International Development, announced a £3 million boost to small
businesses in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs).
Encouraging enterprise
 The
New Market Development initiative, unveiled at the Palestinian Investment Conference in Bethlehem,
represents a real opportunity for both the economy of the OPTs and for peace in
the region. Making the announcement, Douglas Alexander spoke of the importance
of greater investment in Palestinian business:
"...aid alone is not enough to help (the Palestinian people) overcome their
problems. Economic growth is vital to the search for a lasting economic and
political settlement in the Middle East."
The money will help companies develop new markets and products, enabling them to
become bigger exporters. A thriving Palestinian commercial sector will mean new
jobs and better infrastructure, and will give the OPTs a better chance of
financial self-sufficiency.
Over the next three years, the UK is providing £243 million to assist the
Palestinian Authority in building a more sustainable state. The economic decline
of recent years must be reversed if the region is to have a stable and
prosperous future. Encouraging enterprise, and making the most of the business
opportunities that exist in the OPTs, are crucial to achieving this.
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Transforming the region's prospects
This week's conference, described by Douglas Alexander as "a potential turning
point for the Palestinian people", was announced by Palestinian PM Salam Fayyad
and US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice at the Paris Pledging Conference in
December 2007.
Aimed at Arab, US and European investors, the Bethlehem event saw investment
proposals worth up to £1 billion put forward. If successful, these could
transform the economic prospects of the region as a whole.
The UK Government's support for the Palestinian Investment Conference
demonstrates its commitment to progress in the Middle East. As well as
encouraging economic growth in the region, the UK continues to work hard,
through a sustainable peace process, to bring about a two-state solution in
which a viable Palestinian state exists alongside Israel.
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