RAMALLAH, December 24, 2009 (WAFA)- Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and the European Union Representative Christian Berger signed, yesterday, three new agreements with a total value of €50.5 million.
The signing ceremony took place at the Prime Minister’s office in Ramallah. The three agreements will support several sectors and programs such as the infrastructure development program (€18 million), governance and social development (€ 10.5 million), and a special support to the private sector in the Gaza strip that was affected by the war on Gaza (€ 22 million).
Prime Minister Fayyad reiterated that those agreements come at a time where the Palestinian people are in need of all kind of continuous support in order to be able to build the state institutions and develop its sectors. Such agreements also help the Palestinian people to face the needs and obstacles they live with, and provide the possibilities to continue in the development process.
Fayyad thanked the European Union for its continuous support to the Palestinian people and their government, he also thanked them for their solidarity with the rights of the Palestinian people, especially their right to end the occupation and attain freedom by building their state up to 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.
From his side, the Berger said, “as we sign these new agreements, the European Union ensures the Palestinian people of its solid commitment to support the Palestinian government in various sectors toward building a future Palestinian state. Through this funding we are targeting crucial sectors as infrastructure, governance and social development. I would like to highlight our special €22 million program to provide immediate support to the private sector in Gaza to allow them to re-start their economic activities. On this occasion, I would like to recall the European Union position that calls for the flow of aid, trade, and persons in order to improve the living conditions of Gaza people and to allow for reconstruction and economic recovery.”
These new agreements came a week after EU latest contribution of (€12.1 million) through the PEGASE mechanism that went to vulnerable Palestinian families and civil servants salaries.
The EU has provided around (€351.1 million) directly to the Palestinian authority during the year 2009, most of it went for budget support. This is in addition to its support with (€147.53) million for Humanitarian programs; by this the sum of the EU contributions to the Palestinian people in 2009 reaches (€498.630 million).
The financial support that the EU provided in previous years up to 2009 is around (€ 3.4 billion) which went to support different sectors as education, help, and industrial development, infrastructure along with private sector budget support and humanitarian aid.
