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UK commits to further support for Palestinians

25 July 2008

Prime Minister Gordon Brown visited Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) from 19-21 July, bringing with him to the OPTs a high-level business delegation that sent a strong message that ‘Palestine is open for business’. Mr Brown made history during the three days as the first British Prime Minister to address the Israeli Knesset, while his trade minister, Lord Digby Jones, became the first UK trade minister ever to visit the OPTs.

Building the Palestinian economy

Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Palestinian President Abbas Meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Bethlehem, where they discussed the peace process, the Prime Minister took the opportunity to reiterate Britain's support for a viable and prosperous Palestinian state - one based on 1967 borders, living in peace and security with Israel, and with Jerusalem as the capital of two states. Mr Brown also congratulated President Abbas on the steps taken by Palestinians to improve the capability of the security services and encouraged more work in this area.

At a joint press conference, the Prime Minister subsequently announced $60 million for Palestine's economic development, bringing this year's total UK support to Palestinians to $175 million. Of this, $30 million will be given immediately to the Palestinian Authority as financial assistance. He also announced a "Senior Leadership Course" for top Palestinian security personnel that will develop future leaders in this key area.

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Attracting foreign investment

Also in Bethlehem, Lord Jones and Dr Hasan Abu Libdeh, CEO of the Palestine Investment Conference, hosted a UK-Palestine business event. In attendance was the Chief Executive of UK Trade and Investment, Andrew Kahn, as well as 25 leading British businessmen, representing such companies as BT, Yahoo, Lloyds TSB and British Midland.

In his speech at the event, the Mr Brown congratulated Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad for taking the lead on reforms to make Palestine an attractive area for foreign investment. He described his long-held belief that economic growth is not only something that emerges from peace, but that it is essential to it - and that it is therefore in Israeli as well as Palestinian interests that movement and access restrictions in the West Bank are eased. Mr Brown also announced that, later this year in London, Britain will host a follow-up to the Palestine Investment Conference held in Bethlehem in May.

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Grants for growth

Gordon Brown presents a grant to a Palestinian entrepreneur The event also saw Mr Brown present certificates to the first Palestinian entrepreneurs to receive grants from a new DFID-World Bank facility aimed at encouraging private sector growth. The Palestinian Facility for New Market Development (FNMD) will match the investments made by Palestinian owners of small and medium enterprises, helping them to improve their products and access new markets.Read more about the FNMD.

Samir Al Masri is one of the entrepreneurs who will benefit. Already, his fair trade olive oil company, Al-Zaytoun, has enriched the lives of around 1,700 Palestinian farmers through its ethical buying policy. The FNMD grant will enable the company to establish a presence in Malaysia, Sweden and the United States.

Amongst the other businessmen receiving grants were Mahmoud Razok, the manager of an East Jerusalem company planning to open a showroom in Jordan, and Ahmad al Amleh, owner of a manufacturing firm in Hebron, who will now be able to sell his products in the northern West Bank, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.

The Prime Minister also met five representatives of East Jerusalem society - Mrs Hanan Asharawi, Mr Abdel Qader al-Huseenri, Miss Hiba al-Husseini, Dr Sari Nuseibeh, and Mr Mazen Kupti - with whom he discussed life for Palestinians in the city. Confirming that Jerusalem must serve as the capital of two states and that the expansion of Israeli settlements must stop in the East of the city as well as in the rest of the West Bank, Mr Brown said that it was essential for the growth of the economy that Palestinians had improved access to Jerusalem and that steps were taken to re-open the Arab Chambers of Commerce (part of Israel's commitments under the Road Map).

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Vital help for refugees

In Jerusalem, Mr Brown was later briefed on the latest humanitarian situation in the West Bank and Gaza by the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs. This included the latest information on settlements, outposts, and movement and access restrictions in the West Bank.

During the stay, the Prime Minister's wife, Mrs Sarah Brown, visited Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem with Commissioner General Karen Abu Zayd of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). Here she had the opportunity to learn about UNRWA’s educational activities for children, and talked to members of the Woman's Programme Centre about their coping mechanisms in the midst of extreme poverty and their aspirations for the future. The UK has committed £100 million over five years (2007-12) to UNRWA’s work to help Palestinian refugees in the region. Find out more about UNRWA’s work

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