Shtayyeh Calls on Businessmen to Contribute to Emancipation from Economic Dependency
Translated by Sabrin Qadah
RAMALLAH, the member of the Central Committee of Fatah, President of the Economic Council for Development and Reconstruction, "PECDAR", D. Mohammed Shtayyeh, said that the occupation developed a set of mechanisms to extend its control over the Palestinian territories that are still in place yet, represented by the military occupation, settlement colonization, economic annexation, dissolving infrastructure and creating structures parallel to them, finding Israeli-dependent labors and trading in one direction.
Shtayyeh added during a lecture he delivered in front of a gathering of Palestinian businessmen, organized by the US-Palestinian Chamber of Commerce, today in Ramallah, that the Interim Agreement signed with Israel gave the Palestinian Authority the responsibility over population, but in return did not give it sovereignty over the crossings, lands and natural resources, thus making it dependent on donors.
Shtayyeh called on Palestinian businessmen to work on expanding the productive base and investing in agricultural and industrial sectors to create jobs for the largest number of young people, thus contributing to the economic emancipation from depending on Israel. He also stressed on the importance of strengthening the national product and take advantage of what’s provided by the Islamic Development Bank to support the private sector to create partnerships and financing and others.
He said that the Palestinian people have four important landmarks before the end of the year, represented as: Fatah’s 7th Conference, the Palestinian National Council session, the Paris Conference and the proposed meeting in Moscow. He pointed out that these landmarks will draw the road map for the coming years.
Regarding the results of the American elections, Shtayyeh said: the question that is more important than what Donald Trump is going to do is the question of what the current US administration will do before leaving the White House.
He added: It is known to us that the current US administration is considering some suggestions, but our demand, which seems far-fetched, is to recognize a Palestinian state to save the two-state solution, which Israel wants to see dead, and to put the new administration on the beginning of the road to achieve peace.
