RAMALLAH, January 19, 2010 (WAFA)- Prime Minister Dr. Salam Fayyad, and the European Union Representative, Mr. Christian Berger, today signed a €158.5 million Financing Agreement, including a €0.5 million contribution from Austria, in support to the Palestinian Authority's recurrent expenditures for 2010.
These funds will be channelled to the Palestinian Authority's payments of salaries and pensions and its social protection programme through PEGASE, the European mechanism for support to the Palestinians.
This financing, which helps assure basic public services for Palestinian population, complements a package of €66 million of support for the UNRWA General Fund, to ensure the delivery of public services to Palestine refugees.
Next week the European Union and the Palestinian Authority will launch formal discussions on the details of the second financing package of €71 million which will invest in strengthening the institutions of the future Palestinian state in line with the Palestinian Prime Minister's plan 'Palestine: Moving Forward' announced last week and the two year state building plan announced in August 2009.
Dr. Fayyad said, 'This agreement comes 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 obstacles they live with and provide the possibilities to continue in the development process.”
Dr Fayyad also thanked the European Union for its continuous support to the Palestinian people and its national authority toward ending the occupation and building the future Palestinian State.
Berger commented 'As in previous years, the European Union is providing generous support to the Palestinian Authority to strengthen its institutions and sustain the services provided to the Palestinian people.
Our investments are designed to contribute to the goal - shared by the EU and the PA – of creating a Palestinian state which will exist side by side in peace with Israel. But the sustainable impact of these investments will be only guaranteed if there is progress toward that goal.
