LONDON (AFP) — Private sector firms will be offered the chance to put money into nearly two billion dollars' worth of projects in the Palestinian territories at an upcoming conference, its boss said Thursday.
The chief executive of the Palestinian Investment Conference, Hasan Abu-Libdeh, told a meeting in London that delegates at the three-day event in Bethlehem would be urged to back schemes to the tune of 1.9 billion dollars (1.2 billion euros).
The lion's share -- some 981 million dollars' worth -- would be in the housing, real estate and construction sector in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, which is now under stringent movement and access restrictions by Israel.
"We hope that the conference will prepare Palestinians for change," Abu-Libdeh told the audience of mainly international investors and bankers. "It should be the start" of further such events, he added.
The conference, organised by Britain and the United States, is set to take place between May 21-23. It was set up after foreign states pledged 7.4 billion dollars to the Palestinians in Paris in December last year.
The London event, designed to whet the appetite of British-based firms, was attended by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, his Palestinian counterpart Salam Fayyad, Mideast envoy Tony Blair, foreign ambassadors and other dignitaries.
Brown and Blair appeared in public together for one of the first times since the latter stepped down as prime minister to be replaced by his then finance minister last June.
Brown, Blair, Fayyad, the European commissioner for external relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner and USAID administrator Henrietta Fore all said investment would help towards the creation of a Palestinian state.
"There is a huge economic prize," said Brown, who last year published his "economic roadmap" for the Palestinian territories, which said kickstarting growth was crucial to establishing peace.
"There's a double dividend for you as companies and the Palestinian people. There's a real chance to build on the ingenuity and the skills and commitment of the Palestinians to build peace and prosperity."
Fayyad, also a former finance minister, highlighted the "vibrant and resilient" private sector in the Palestinian territories and a conducive business environment.
"It's possible to make money in Palestine, notwithstanding all the difficulties and complexities that businesses have to endure on a daily basis," he said.
Private sector involvement from abroad was vital to underpin sustainable economic development, he added.
For his part, Blair, who meets foreign ministers from the Mideast Quartet of the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States in London Friday, said encouraging investment was not to minimise existing problems, particularly in Gaza.
World Bank projections suggested the Palestinian economy would grow by three percent in 2008 and foreign investors were already doing business there, he said.
"There is a political negotiation. There are all the difficulties and challenges of the current situation on the ground," he said.
"But the Palestinian people are determined, in so far as they can, to take their own destiny and future in their own hands and business is an important part of that."
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