BETHLEHEM, April 7, 2010 (WAFA)- A financial Protocol to be signed tomorrow by the French Minister of Industry Christian Estrosi and the Minister of National Economy Hassan Abu Libdeh to support the development of the Palestinian private sector and the Bethlehem Industrial Park.
The Protocol provides for a €5 million grant from the French government, which will facilitate loans from local financial institutions to Palestinian private companies or French-Palestinian joint-ventures, especially small and medium enterprises.
The mechanism will enable businesses to get loans to carry out their projects, reduce the risk taken by the local banking sector when granting loans, and encourage French exporters to establish trade relations with the Palestinian Territory.
A joint French-Palestinian committee will be responsible for selecting the projects and will favour sustainable projects that have significant impact on employment, are export-oriented, and those enabling the transfer of technology and know-how. Priority will be given to projects implemented in Bethlehem Industrial Park. Selected investment projects must provide for the importation of French goods and services.
Mechanisms of this kind have been set up between 1993 and 2000 for a total of €10 million and have enabled the funding of 32 projects in various sectors (food and agriculture, catering, pharmacy, construction, health, chemistry and press).
Bethlehem Industrial Park
The Bethlehem Multidisciplinary Industrial Park project was launched June 24, 2008 with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the President of the French Republic Nicolas Sarkozy and the President Mahmoud Abbas.
The project is a continuation of the international donors’ Conference for the Palestinian State held in Paris on December 17, 2007, which stressed the importance of supporting the private sector to revive the Palestinian economy as part of the Palestinian Reform and Development Plan (PRDP) 2008-2010, in which the industry is seen as a key sector.
The project aims to facilitate the development of the industrial fabric of Bethlehem and the creation of jobs (between 500 and 1000) by developing a business park south of the city. It also aims to support small and medium size enterprises in developing new practices to strengthen their positions in the local and export markets, while improving their environmental practices.
The project includes two components: (i) the grant funding to the Palestinian Authority of external infrastructure to connect the industrial park to the water, sanitation, electricity and road networks and to strengthen the capacities of public entities in charge of their implementation ; (ii) the financing of activities that aim at enhancing the attractiveness of the industrial park for local businesses.
On June 4, 2009, the French Development Agency signed a financing agreement of €10 million with the Palestinian Authority, represented by the Ministry of Planning and Administrative Development (MOPAD) for the financing of infrastructures to enhance the attractiveness of Bethlehem Industrial Park.
The concession agreement specifying the terms of the public-private partnership to develop the industrial park was signed on Monday, March 29, 2010 by Hassan Abu Libdeh, Minister of National Economy and Chairman of the Board of PIEFZA and Samir Hazboun, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the French-Palestinian BMIP.
All detailed studies have been conducted concerning the off-site infrastructure and the connection works to the water and electricity network should start very soon. Further studies are underway for the access road and sanitation.
The construction of an administrative building by BMIP recently started and the first stone ceremony is scheduled on Thursday in Bethlehem in the presence of French Minister of Industry Christian Estrosi. The building is the first one in Palestine that has been designed according to High Environmental Quality rules (HQE).
The project is implemented on the ground by several actors:
- A French-Palestinian steering committee was established to provide broad strategic orientations. On the Palestinian side, it is composed of Hassan Abu Libdeh, Minister of National Economy, Salah Tamari, Governor of Bethlehem, Victor Batarseh, Mayor of Bethlehem, Samir Hazboun, President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Chairman of the Board of the French-Palestinian BMIP Company and Ahmad Hassasneh, Director General of PIEFZA; on the French side, it is composed of Valerie Hoffenberg, Special Representative for the economic, cultural, commercial, educational and environmental dimensions of the Middle East peace process, Pierre Duquesne, Ambassador in charge of economic, reconstruction and development issues, Frederic Desagneaux, Consul General of France in Jerusalem, Herve Conan, Director of AFD in Jerusalem and Corinne Evens, President of the Evens Foundation ;
- PIEFZA ('Palestinian Industrial Estate and Free Zone Authority”) is the public authority in charge of industrial zones in the Palestinian territories. It is the developer of the project as regards the access road and electricity infrastructure; it also carries out public policies to promote investment in Palestinian free zones ;
- BMIP (“Bethlehem Multidisciplinary Industrial Park Company') is a joint French-Palestinian company. As a concessioner, it is responsible for the realization of the internal infrastructure, for building common areas, and if applicable, the industrial units for rent, as well as for coordinating public operators in the realization of external infrastructures, and for managing and marketing the park;
- PWA (“Palestinian Water Authority”) is in charge of the water and sanitation component of the project.
