VZCZCXRO7935
OO RUEHROV
DE RUEHJM #0511 0751651
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 161651Z MAR 07
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6989
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY

UNCLAS JERUSALEM 000511 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
NEA/IPA FOR WILLIAMS/SHAMPAINE/BELGRADE; NSC FOR 
ABRAMS/DORAN/WATERS; TREASURY FOR 
SZUBIN/LOEFFLER/NUGENT/HIRSON 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON EFIN EINV EAID PREL KWBG
SUBJECT: PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPS RESILIENCE AND RECOVERY 
PLAN 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  The Palestinian private sector 
institutions who are members of the Private Sector 
Development Working Group, one of the donor coordination 
working groups chaired by the World Bank, have drafted a 
Resilience and Recovery Plan, designed to aid the Palestinian 
private sector during the current economic crisis.  The plan 
prioritizes an estimated USD 150-200 million of proposed 
projects to limit "de-development" in the Palestinian 
territories, to influence change in the political situation 
that is more favorable to private sector interests, and to 
advocate for freer access and movement.  End Summary. 
 
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Private Sector Prioritizes Programs 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Palestinian private sector institutions, under the 
Private Sector Coordinating Council (PSCC), came together in 
the fall of 2006 and developed the Resilience and Recovery 
Plan to prioritize assistance to the private sector during 
the current economic downturn.  Palestinian private sector 
institutions sought to prioritize projects that can address 
private sector concerns and/or limit "de-development" in the 
private sector, thereby positioning the private sector for 
economic recovery once the political situation improves. 
 
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Targeted Approach to Economic Priorities 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) The plan prioritizes an estimated USD 150-200 
million of proposed short-term projects to address several 
main facets of the Palestinian economy, including: 
 
--Financial tools and programs to enable access to credit and 
mitigate financial risks, 
--Competitiveness improvements in industry, services, and 
agribusiness, 
--Market access (global and domestic), to include countering 
vertical fragmentation, 
--Housing and municipal services funded by public-private 
partnerships and soft loans, and 
--Institutional capacity-building for private sector 
organizations to provide member services and advocate for 
change in the political and regulatory environment. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Once the plan is finalized, the PSCC will arrange 
bilateral meetings with donors to identify how donor efforts 
can support it. 
 
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Comment 
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¶5.  (SBU) The private sector's efforts to prioritize its 
needs during the current economic downturn is commendable. 
However, few of the proposed projects actually focus on 
emergency assistance to the private sector; most are 
conventional economic development projects.  The primary 
value of the Resilience and Recovery Plan seems to be as a 
mechanism to focus and coordinate donor assistance.  It 
appears the Palestinian private sector organizations will 
soon use it as a "shopping list" of aid projects for donors 
interested in increasing their work with the private sector. 
WALLES