Back to the complete issue
Monday, 24 June 2019

Egypt preparing for US-led Palestinian economic development workshop in Bahrain

A two-day US-led workshop to “promote Palestinian economic development” begins tomorrow in Manama, Bahrain. An Egyptian delegation led by an as-yet-unnamed vice finance minister will attend the event, which is being held to discuss the Trump administration’s economic plan to restart the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

Who else is attending? Officials from GCC states, Jordan and Morocco will be present. Notably, neither the Palestinian Authority nor Israel are sending delegations.

Regional reaction to the Trump-Kushner plan released on Saturday has been mixed to say the least: “Colossal waste of time,” “non-starter,” and “dead on arrival,” are just some of the phrases used across the Arab world to describe Kushner’s USD 50 bn Palestinian economic development plan, Reuters reports.

It received a more positive reception in the Gulf: Saudi FM Adel Jubeir welcomed the attempt to improve the regional economy while several figures in Gulf countries criticized the Palestinians for rejecting the proposal.

Egypt has so far stayed silent: Neither the government nor Al Azhar has officially opined on the plan, which would invest USD 9.1 bn in Egyptian transport, energy and water infrastructure projects.

Arab finance ministers agree USD 100 mn monthly support to PA: Arab finance ministers said that they were committed to giving the Palestinian Authority USD 100 mn each month in financial support at a meeting in Cairo yesterday, the state-run MENA agency reported (via Bloomberg). The Arab League agreed to the plan back in April but are yet to act on it. The ministers also appealed to Arab states and regional banks to offer loans for infrastructure and development projects in the West Bank and Gaza. The PA’s financial situation has deteriorated further since February when Israel reduced the amount of tax revenue it hands over each month by 5%.

Enterprise is a daily publication of Enterprise Ventures LLC, an Egyptian limited liability company (commercial register 83594), and a subsidiary of Inktank Communications. Summaries are intended for guidance only and are provided on an as-is basis; kindly refer to the source article in its original language prior to undertaking any action. Neither Enterprise Ventures nor its staff assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, whether in the form of summaries or analysis. © 2022 Enterprise Ventures LLC.

Enterprise is available without charge thanks to the generous support of HSBC Egypt (tax ID: 204-901-715), the leading corporate and retail lender in Egypt; EFG Hermes (tax ID: 200-178-385), the leading financial services corporation in frontier emerging markets; SODIC (tax ID: 212-168-002), a leading Egyptian real estate developer; SomaBay (tax ID: 204-903-300), our Red Sea holiday partner; Infinity (tax ID: 474-939-359), the ultimate way to power cities, industries, and homes directly from nature right here in Egypt; CIRA (tax ID: 200-069-608), the leading providers of K-12 and higher level education in Egypt; Orascom Construction (tax ID: 229-988-806), the leading construction and engineering company building infrastructure in Egypt and abroad; Moharram & Partners (tax ID: 616-112-459), the leading public policy and government affairs partner; Palm Hills Developments (tax ID: 432-737-014), a leading developer of commercial and residential properties; Mashreq (tax ID: 204-898-862), the MENA region’s leading homegrown personal and digital bank; Industrial Development Group (IDG) (tax ID:266-965-253), the leading builder of industrial parks in Egypt; Hassan Allam Properties (tax ID:  553-096-567), one of Egypt’s most prominent and leading builders; and Saleh, Barsoum & Abdel Aziz (tax ID: 220-002-827), the leading audit, tax and accounting firm in Egypt.