Responsible Party and Year Completed: Portland and the Palestinian Private Sector, 2024 (working draft)
Link: TBC
Status: Almost Completed (not yet published due to changes after October)
Contact: Hugo Tay – [email protected]
Executive Summary:
The Forward West Bank Economic Development Strategy aims to tackle the cycle of low investment and constrained economic growth in Palestine. Faced with occupation-related restrictions and recurring conflicts, the plan identifies the need for significant sustainable investment and enhancement of the business environment.
The strategy focuses on job creation to address rising unemployment, which has risen by close to 10% from 2000 to 2022. Central to the strategy is the role of the private sector, which employs two-thirds of the workforce and is vital for driving economic growth.
This strategy integrates global best practices and methodologies to create a roadmap tailored to the local context, focusing on core sectors including healthcare, agriculture, energy, tourism, and manufacturing and enablers across finance, infrastructure, human capital and technology.
Short term priorities:
- Address infrastructure challenges, establish private tertiary hospitals, and enhancing private healthcare services.
- Promote crop diversification, water-efficient technologies, and improve market access for farmers.
- Invest in solar power and improve electricity infrastructure for greater efficiency and affordability.
- Develop archaeological sites and mixed-use spaces to stimulate tourism and cultural preservation.
Long term priorities:
- Improve the import/export process, support local companies in global market expansion, and address trade deficits.
- Focus on infrastructure investment, SME support, digital financial inclusion, and improve risk ratings and banking infrastructure.
- Enhance urban planning, financing, and resolve land disputes for sustainable infrastructure growth.
- Address unemployment, align educational outcomes with labour market needs, and establish technology transfer offices and centres of excellence.
Immediate Priorities / Proposed Next Steps:
- Support the ICT sector and startups through investments and collaborations, focusing on high-value IT services and venture capital funding.
- Adapt operational plans, diversify investments, and advocate for improved access to mitigate geopolitical and economic risks.
- Engage in partnerships to enhance programme resilience and create a supportive ecosystem for economic development.