BETHLEHEM: A Palestinian business conference has helped raise investments for projects worth $1.4 billion, including in housing, high-tech and telecommunications, the Palestinian prime minister said Friday.
The investments could create as many as 35,000 jobs, Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said at the end of the three-day conference, which drew more than 500 foreign investors, many from the Arab world, along with hundreds more from the Palestinian territories.
However, the largest investment – $650 million (?410 million) by a new mobile phone provider – has been in the works for 18 months, and Israel still hasn t given final approval for the necessary frequencies. Also, the bulk of the investment is going into construction, which will create temporary jobs, but not steady employment.
Critics also say investment remains risky because of the uncertain fate of peace efforts and continued Israeli movement restrictions, including restricted access of some foreigners to the Palestinian territories.
Still, Fayyad declared the conference a success. This is the start of moving the wheel of the economy, with a view toward the leading role of the private sector, said Fayyad, an economist.
Fayyad said more than $500 million (?317.36 million) is in real estate and $65 million (?41 million) in high-tech. Wataniya Mobile plans to invest $650 million to set up a second mobile phone service in the Palestinian areas, and announced Thursday that it has received assurances that it would soon be assigned the necessary frequencies for operations.
The closing session was attended by French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner who criticized Israel s network of roadblocks and checkpoints, seen as a key impediment to the recovery of the Palestinian economy. Israel says it cannot move faster in easing restrictions because Palestinian insurgents still pose a threat.
The restrictions on access and mobility are still significant, Kouchner said. They have not yet been alleviated as they should have. Israel should and Israel can exert more efforts in this regard without endangering its security.
Kouchner also took Israel to task for ongoing construction in Israeli settlements.
Nothing justifies the settlement expansion, which constitutes an impediment to peace, as well as an obstacle obstructing the development of the Palestinian economy, he said.
Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said construction continues only in Jewish neighborhoods of east Jerusalem, which Israel does not consider settlements, and inside large West Bank settlement blocs that Israel intends to retain in any final peace accord.
The Palestinians and the international community do not recognize Israel s 1967 annexation of east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians want as capital of a future state.
The Palestinians also demand sovereignty over the entire West Bank, though negotiators have discussed swapping the land where major settlement blocs stand in exchange for an equal amount of Israeli territory.
