Translated by Sabrin Qadah 

The Minister of National Economy, President of the Board of Directors of the Palestinian Investment Promotion Authority Abeer Odeh, said on Monday, "that the authority granted during the past year incentives for about 14 projects with a size of capital amounted to US $9 million in sectors (industry, tourism, agriculture, health) according to investment Promotion Law.

The minister showed that the beneficiary projects of incentives provided approximately 347 direct jobs, pointing out that cumulative volume of investment registered with the agency in the northern governorates amounted to about US $ 600 million, while the size of the workforce registered amounted to about 29 thousand in the projects that benefit from the Investment Promotion Law.

According to the annual report of the Investment Promotion Board, about 33 project have been registered to be referred to incentives committees, in addition to seven plans for the development of existing projects that are expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2017. Work on a 25- investor visit permits in coordination with the Authority of Civil Affairs to reach a cumulative number of 2,188 investor to Palestine in order to explore investment opportunities in Palestine.

The Commission, during the past year, has dealt with more than 350 queries about investment or development projects. No less than 28 field have been visited. 77 trainings have been provided to the staff of the Commission whether locally or externally, noting that the number of staff in the northern governorates amounted to about 35 employees, of whom 54% were females and 46% males.

Under the supervision of the Board of Directors, the agency completed proposals and formulated incentive contracts concerning the sectors of alternative energy, information and communication technology, in addition to a contract of incentives special to projects in c areas, and a contract of incentives to projects in the industrial and free zone. A proposal for a contact of incentives was prepared to encourage investment in east Jerusalem.

The agency has conducted a survey of satisfaction and investors needs in the northern governorates, and the updated electronic portal was launched within the agency’s portal (submission of application and follow-up, submission of a request for investors visit). That is in addition to completing the functional structure of the agency, functional descriptions and approving them properly.