Interview: China's "Belt and Road Initiative" driving force for Middle East growth: Palestinian minister

Chinese President Xi Jinping's declaration to provide 50 million yuan (7.53 million U.S. dollars) in donation to the Palestinian people is highly appreciated, a senior Palestinian official said recently during an interview with Xinhua.

Abeer Odeh, the Palestinian minister of National Economy, told Xinhua that the newly provided Chinese fund was made in parallel with China's "Belt and Road Initiative" presented in 2013.

"The tracks of the initiative are all going towards a growth and development in the Middle East," Odeh said, stressing that all the regional states, including Palestine, "are admiring the Chinese renaissance and wish to imitate it. Palestine always wishes to boost economic and trade ties with China."

She noted that Palestinians are greatly interested in the Chinese-Arab plan for scientific and technological partnership, presented by President Xi during his visit to Egypt and the Arab League last week. According to the plan, 10 joint laboratories are to be established to serve modern agriculture, health and communications.

Last week, President Xi visited three countries in the Middle East: Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Iran. In his speech at the Arab League in Cairo, he said that the Chinese government has decided to pledge 50 million yuan to help improve the livelihood of the Palestinians and 230 million yuan (about 35 million dollars) to Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya and Yemen as humanitarian assistance.

The Chinese leader announced loan programs in support of development in the Middle East, including 15 billion dollars of exclusive loans, 10 billion dollars of commercial loans and 10 billion dollars of soft loans, as well as joint investment funds worth 20 billion dollars.

Meanwhile, as the CEO of Palestine Capital Market Authority, a governmental financial institution, Odeh also expressed the Palestinian aspirations to boost and enlarge trade exchange with China, referring that the size of imports from China to the Palestinian markets is growing fast.

"Imports from China focus on furniture, machines, clothes, shoes, antiques and gifts, but exports to Chinese market are still very limited and barely reached 100,000 U.S. dollars every year, and these exports include stones and marble," said the Palestinian minister.

She clarified that the Palestinians are looking forward to increasing their exports to China. "We are holding intensive consultations to activate the joint cooperation treaties with China and increase the economic cooperation between the two countries. China has been always backing the Palestinian state."

Asked about the Palestinian economy, Odeh told Xinhua that the Palestinian losses have reached five billion Israeli Shekels (about 128 million U.S. dollars) since last October due to the ongoing violence between Israelis and the Palestinians.

"The popular blow (wave of tension) had influenced the overall components of the Palestinian economy, mainly the sectors of industry, tourism and trade," said Odeh, adding "the purchase power of the Palestinian individual declined, and those who come from Israel to buy their needs from our markets also declined."

She explained that the Israeli occupation measures, especially blockade and checkpoints all over the West Bank, "resulted in the high losses of the Palestinian economy."

Since early October last year, more than 160 Palestinians and nearly 30 Israelis have been killed in the ongoing conflict.

Odeh also called on the international community to boycott products produced in Israeli settlements, adding that the Palestinians welcomed the decision of the European Union to label these products and distinguish them from other products made in Israel.

"Our efforts to keep fighting the settlements' products are still going on and we keep organizing the Palestinian market in different fields," she said.

In 2009, the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) launched a national campaign of boycotting the Israeli settlement products. The campaign was backed by President Mahmoud Abbas who issued a decree to ban such products.

In the interview, Odeh said that Palestine is looking forward to join the World Trade Organization as an observer to learn about the mechanism, hoping to benefit more in technical aid from the organization provides. Endit