Translated by Sabrin Qadah 

The World Bank discussed, on Sunday, with the head of the Palestinian Economic Council for Development and Reconstruction "PECDAR", D. Mohammed Shtayyeh, the Council's experience in reconstruction to discuss the possibility to benefit from the council’s mechanism in reconstructing Yemen, Libya, Iraq and Syria.

This came during his participation in the annual fall meetings of the World Bank in Washington, DC, which started two days ago.

During the meetings, Shtayyeh asked the World Bank to deal with Palestine as a state and not a national authority. He also asked to increase the size of its aid to Palestine, particularly in light of the budget deficit and the donors’ reluctance to fulfill their commitments to the reconstruction of Gaza.

Seawater desalination in the sector and its positive repercussions on our people in Gaza was discussed with the World Bank and a number of stakeholders interested in the project.

Shtayyeh also held several bilateral meetings with a number of officials, including a meeting with the Finance Minister of South Africa to activate the memorandum of understanding signed with the South African Development Bank and the PNA.

Shtayyeh added that the chief dean of the World Bank's Governors and his team will visit Palestine before the end of this month.