Country reports
The private sector agenda constitutes an economical program for the Palestinian Autonomous Territories, which aims at the realization of far-reaching reforms in all fields of the economic and industrial sector. Its goal is to ensure the successful development of the Palestinian economy, and to guarantee peace and political stability therewith.
The envoy of the Middle East Quartet, Tony Blair, praised the achievements of the private sector and the Palestinian government as remarkable, especially in regard of the difficulties caused by the continuous realities of movement restrictions in the Palestinian Territories. According to Blair, the cut back of the barriers is posing a fundamental precondition for a successful prospering of the Palestinian economy.
Tony Blair regards it as his personal mission to achieve this goal.
Prime Minister Salam Fayyad prized and adopted the private sector agenda on behalf of the Palestinian government and promised the implementation of its content into the policy of the Palestinian Authority.
During his speech he emphasized the great importance of the dialogue between the private and the public sector. The cooperation between both sides is an essential component of every successful economic development in the Palestinian Territories, and a necessary premise on the way to a Palestinian State. In this respect, the principles of the Social Market Economy constitute a best practice model.
Thomas Birringer, Resident Representative of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung in Ramallah, thanked the attendees for their support. He referred to the great cooperation with PFI regarding the making of the private sector agenda. The Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung is connected to its partners by the same ideas and values, especially by the joint belief in the same regulatory policies.
The conference was attended by over 120 high-ranking representatives of all branches of the Palestinian private sector and the international community.
The entire event took place under the eyes of the media. Numerous Palestinian Newspapers as well as television networks, including Al-Jazeera, covered the conference.