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Chinese businessmen seek investment in Palestinian territories

2012-03-01

RAMALLAH, Feb. 29 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese delegation of 30 businessmen and academics on Wednesday wrapped up a visit to the West Bank, where they had discussed with their Palestinian counterparts the opportunities of investment in the Palestinian territories.

During the three-day visit, the Chinese delegation toured in the West Bank and visited three major Palestinian cities, where they met with Palestinian businessmen representing the private sector and academics.

The visit of Chinese delegation "was encouraging and successful, " said Rola Serhan, director of the Palestinian Investment Fund ( PIF), which organized the visit in cooperation with the Middle East Center at Shanghai University.

She told Xinhua that the visit was aiming to explore the opportunities of investment in the Palestinian territories and see the reality of the Palestinian economy.

The two sides agreed to organize more mutual visits to boost cooperation between the private sectors in both China and the Palestinian territories, Serhan said, adding that "and to start executing the proposed projects of investment."

Serhan expressed the Palestinian welcome of attracting foreign investment, mainly from China, in the Palestinian territories, saying it is opened for all opportunities of economic investment.

The Chinese delegation had also met during their tour with representatives of the PIF and their partners over the economic situation in the Palestinian territories and studied fields of common cooperation.

The delegation was also briefed on the projects supervised by the PIF in various industrial fields. Chinese businessmen and academics were positively impressed by PIF"s idea of creating job opportunities and minimizing the standard of poverty and unemployment.

The PIF presented the Chinese delegation its growing investment projects in several strategic areas such as Jerusalem, the Jordan Valley, the Dead Sea area and the Gaza Strip in cooperation with a group of Arab and international partners.

Liu Kang, head of the Chinese delegation, told a news conference in Ramallah that the visit "was successful and the delegation felt the real Palestinian hospitality," adding that the visit helped Chinese businessmen to closely see the real situation in the Palestinian territories.

The aim of this three-day visit is to explore the possibility of investing in the Palestinian territories and strengthen the ties of the two sides that would contribute to the regional peace, Liu said.

Ahmed Ramadan, the Palestinian ambassador to China, said in the news conference that this visit would have an influence on the Palestinian economy, hoping China to increase investment in the Palestinian territories. "The visit of Chinese delegation was encouraged by the Palestinian National Authority," said Ramadan.