West Bank And Gaza Investment Climate Statement 2015

Author : United States United States Department of State
Publisher : Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Page : 26 pages
File Size : 41,9 Mb
Release : 2016-04-23
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 1532888511

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West Bank and Gaza by United States United States Department of State Pdf

Despite some progress, the PA continues to rank poorly in the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business category, receiving a ranking of 143 out of 189 in 2015. Beginning in June 2007, the PA has demonstrated a renewed determination to improve the investment climate and to attract foreign investment, undertaking a number of significant reforms. These broad economic policies are aimed at stimulating growth through private sector investment and consolidating public finances. The National Development Plan (NDP) for 2011-2013, the PA's reform and development framework from earlier this decade, highlighted the need for sovereign control over its borders and developing domestic resources to attract investment for sustainable economic development. Through 23 sector strategies contained in the NDP, the PA focused on private sector growth in agriculture and tourism in particular, and committed to continued legal and institutional reform, strategic investments in national infrastructure, and negotiated international trade agreements. Currently, the 2014-2016 NDP is used to guide the PA. The NDP emphasizes the need to create an additional 600,000 jobs during the next decade to maintain at least 10 percent annual growth in GDP. As with the previous NDP, the current version is structured along the lines of four key sectors: economic development and employment, good governance and institution building, social protection and development, and infrastructure. Within the economic sector, the NDP actively seeks to encourage private sector and foreign investment, improve Palestinian infrastructure, increase the competitiveness of Palestinian companies, and encourage entrepreneurship in the West Bank and Gaza, among other goals. The NDP caveats, that any economic progress is inextricably linked to resolution of the political conflict with Israel, as well as overcoming internal divisions between the West Bank and Gaza.

Author : United States United States Department of State
Publisher : CreateSpace
Page : 24 pages
File Size : 52,5 Mb
Release : 2015-06-17
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 1514388936

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West Bank and Gaza by United States United States Department of State Pdf

The Palestinian economy is small and relatively open, with several large holding companies dominating certain sectors. Palestinian businesses have a reputation for their professionalism as well as the quality of their products. Large Palestinian enterprises are internationally connected, with partnerships extending to Asia, Europe, the Gulf, and the Americas. Due to the small size of the local market, access to foreign markets through trade is essential for private sector growth. However, restrictions on the movement and access of goods and people between the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and external markets imposed by the Government of Israel (GOI) continue to have a deleterious effect on the private sector and limit economic growth. Private sector opportunities are constrained in Gaza due the de facto rule of Hamas, which has been designated as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO), combined with GOI restrictions on many imports and most exports. Since 2007, the West Bank's economy has made significant progress- primarily due to improved security, economic and legal reforms, international donor support and the easing of GOI restrictions - economic growth slowed drastically during 2013 and contracted in 2014. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in the West Bank and Gaza was 2 percent in 2013 and in 2014 declined to nearly 1 percent, down from a combined average 9 percent GDP growth in 2010- 2012. According to international organizations, the decline in 2014 is mainly a result of that summer's conflict in Gaza, the ongoing political conflict with Israel, the uncertainty in the Palestinian Authority's (PA) ability to pay salaries, and the accumulation of high levels of private sector arrears. In 2014, donor countries provided the PA USD 1.030 billion to support its budget, about USD 297 million short of the amount needed to cover the PA's recurrent deficit. Future economic growth depends on a series of factors; an easing of Israeli movement and access restrictions, further expanding external trade and private sector growth, improved PA governance on commercial regulation, political stability, Israel prompt releasing the PA's customs and VAT revenues, and the general recovery of global and regional economic growth. Economic sectors that are not dependent on traditional infrastructure and freedom of movement, such as information and communications technologies (ICT), are able to grow somewhat independent of these factors, enjoying greater success in the Palestinian territories during the past decade. According to the Palestinian Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), the unemployment rate in the Palestinian territories is 26.5 percent, with a disproportionate effect on youth: between the ages of 20-24 where unemployment is at a rate of 45.6 percent. In addition, the workforce is expected to significantly expand in the coming years as 47.1 percent of the population of the West Bank and Gaza is currently below the age of 18. The labor force is relatively well-educated, boasting a high literacy rate, with high technology penetration and familiarity with overseas markets. Wages are low relative to Israel, but higher than other neighboring Arab countries. In January 2013, the PA implemented the first Palestinian minimum wage, set at NIS 1,450 (USD 389) per month. Palestinians remain dependent on the public sector, which employs 22.9 percent of the workforce. The PA depends primarily on the transfer of its customs and VAT revenue, which Israel collects on the PA's behalf, to cover its operational expenses, including its wage bill.

Author : United States United States Department of State
Publisher : Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Page : 446 pages
File Size : 50,7 Mb
Release : 2016-03-25
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 1530702844

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Multiple Country Investment Climate Statement 2015 by United States United States Department of State Pdf

Part 2 includes the Investment Climate Statement 2015 for the following countries: Indonesia, Kosovo, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malawi, Mexico, Mongolia, Oman, Poland, Republic of the Congo, Slovenia, Spain, The Netherlands, Venezuela, West Bank and Gaza.

Author : Matteo Nicolini,Francesco Palermo,Enrico Milano
Publisher : BRILL
Page : 391 pages
File Size : 42,6 Mb
Release : 2016-05-19
Category : Law
ISBN : 9789004311299

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Law, Territory and Conflict Resolution by Matteo Nicolini,Francesco Palermo,Enrico Milano Pdf

Law, Territory and Conflict Resolution examines the role of law in territorial disputes and legal realities in territorial conflicts by critically reflecting on the well-established assumption that law is ‘part of the solution’ rather than ‘part of the problem’.

Author : OECD,International Monetary Fund
Publisher : OECD Publishing
Page : 169 pages
File Size : 47,8 Mb
Release : 2004-01-27
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 9781589062207

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Foreign Direct Investment Statistics How Countries Measure FDI by OECD,International Monetary Fund Pdf

Foreign Direct Investment Statistics: How Countries Measure FDI shows progress in recent years in moving toward compilation in accordance with international standards that have been established by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the ...

Author : Orhan Niksic,Nur Nasser Eddin,Massimiliano Cali
Publisher : World Bank Publications
Page : 99 pages
File Size : 52,7 Mb
Release : 2014-07-10
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9781464801969

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Area C and the Future of the Palestinian Economy by Orhan Niksic,Nur Nasser Eddin,Massimiliano Cali Pdf

This is the first report to systematically evaluate and quantify the economic potential of Area C, which constitutes approximately 61 percent of the West Bank. The report reveals that lifting the restrictions on economic activity in Area C could have a large positive impact on Palestinian GDP, public finances, and employment prospects. Among other things, access to economic activity in Area C is expected to be a key prerequisite for building a sustainable Palestinian economy. However, full potential of the Area C could be materialized only if other restrictions on free movement of goods, labor and capital are removed and the overall business environment in Palestinian territories has become more attractive. The economic significance of Area C lies in that it is the only contiguous territory in the West Bank, which renders it indispensable to connective infrastructure development across the West Bank, and a relative abundance of natural resources situated therein. Area C offers large potential for the development of several sectors of the Palestinian economy: agriculture, stone and mineral processing, cosmetics, construction, tourism, and telecommunications. The report shows that access to economic activity in Area C could increase the Palestinian GDP by as much as 35 percent, the majority of this impact would stem from agriculture and Dead Sea minerals processing industries, as well as the multiplier effect, which has been estimated at 1.5. Although the importance of building connective infrastructure through Area C is discussed in the report, the quantification of this impact is beyond the scope of this report. An increase in GDP of 35 percent, although thought to be a conservative estimate, would be expected to result in at least $800 million increase in tax revenues for the Palestinian authority, which would drastically reduce its dependence on donor aid for financing chronic budget deficits.

Author : Ben Ehrenreich
Publisher : Penguin
Page : 448 pages
File Size : 44,8 Mb
Release : 2016-06-14
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780698148192

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The Way to the Spring by Ben Ehrenreich Pdf

From an award-winning journalist, a brave and necessary immersion into the everyday struggles of Palestinian life Over the past three years, American writer Ben Ehrenreich has been traveling to and living in the West Bank, staying with Palestinian families in its largest cities and its smallest villages. Along the way he has written major stories for American outlets, including a remarkable New York Times Magazine cover story. Now comes the powerful new work that has always been his ultimate goal, The Way to the Spring. We are familiar with brave journalists who travel to bleak or war-torn places on a mission to listen and understand, to gather the stories of people suffering from extremes of oppression and want: Katherine Boo, Ryszard Kapuściński, Ted Conover, and Philip Gourevitch among them. Palestine is, by any measure, whatever one's politics, one such place. Ruled by the Israeli military, set upon and harassed constantly by Israeli settlers who admit unapologetically to wanting to drive them from the land, forced to negotiate an ever more elaborate and more suffocating series of fences, checkpoints, and barriers that have sundered home from field, home from home, this is a population whose living conditions are unique, and indeed hard to imagine. In a great act of bravery, empathy and understanding, Ben Ehrenreich, by placing us in the footsteps of ordinary Palestinians and telling their story with surpassing literary power and grace, makes it impossible for us to turn away.

Author : Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC)
Publisher : Kluwer Law International B.V.
Page : 600 pages
File Size : 46,8 Mb
Release : 2019-01-17
Category : Law
ISBN : 9789041199706

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International Arbitration by Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC) Pdf

On the occasion of his 75th birthday, Neil Kaplan's unparalleled influence in the field of international arbitration is celebrated in this book which comprises contributions from over twenty-five renowned international arbitration practitioners, all of whom credit Kaplan as having impacted the development of arbitration in their respective jurisdictions or professionally. The book is constructed as a three-part compendium as follows: • the Kaplan Lectures, an annual series established to bring some of the best minds in international arbitration to Hong Kong to address current and practical issues; • key decisions and arbitration awards rendered by Kaplan, with commentaries that make current the issues arising out of these judgments and also provide an in-depth analysis of important issues emanating from his treaty arbitration awards; • articles showcasing the reach of Kaplan's influence through reflections by several of his former assistants who are now making a mark in their own right in the international arbitration community. Arbitration practitioners will welcome this book for its practical analysis of some of the most discussed and debated 'hot issues' in arbitration law and practice today. In addition, the commentaries on Kaplan's key decisions offer especially insightful guidance for practitioners, academics and students in the field of international arbitration.

Author : Anonim
Publisher : Indonesia National Development Information Office
Page : 64 pages
File Size : 43,9 Mb
Release : 1996
Category : Capital investments
ISBN : UOM:39015041713143

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Capital Markets and Portfolio Investment by Anonim Pdf

Author : United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
Publisher : United Nations
Page : 62 pages
File Size : 41,8 Mb
Release : 2020-11-02
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9789210047241

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The Economic Costs of the Israeli Occupation for the Palestinian People: Cumulative Fiscal Costs by United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Pdf

The study addresses the leakage of Palestinian fiscal revenue to Israel and provide up-to-date data on the sources of losses of Palestinian fiscal resources. It explains that the fiscal costs are part of the overall economic costs caused by occupation and consists of two components: (i) Palestinian fiscal leakage to Israel under the PER, and (ii) other fiscal losses that are not leaked to Israel but caused by policies and measures imposed under the prolonged occupation.

Author : United States. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 58 pages
File Size : 47,9 Mb
Release : 1990
Category : Balance of payments
ISBN : PURD:32754062296342

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Foreign Direct Investment in the United States by United States. Bureau of Economic Analysis Pdf

Author : Asli Demirguc-Kunt,Leora Klapper,Dorothe Singer,Saniya Ansar
Publisher : World Bank Publications
Page : 148 pages
File Size : 46,8 Mb
Release : 2018-04-19
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9781464812682

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The Global Findex Database 2017 by Asli Demirguc-Kunt,Leora Klapper,Dorothe Singer,Saniya Ansar Pdf

In 2011 the World Bank—with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation—launched the Global Findex database, the world's most comprehensive data set on how adults save, borrow, make payments, and manage risk. Drawing on survey data collected in collaboration with Gallup, Inc., the Global Findex database covers more than 140 economies around the world. The initial survey round was followed by a second one in 2014 and by a third in 2017. Compiled using nationally representative surveys of more than 150,000 adults age 15 and above in over 140 economies, The Global Findex Database 2017: Measuring Financial Inclusion and the Fintech Revolution includes updated indicators on access to and use of formal and informal financial services. It has additional data on the use of financial technology (or fintech), including the use of mobile phones and the Internet to conduct financial transactions. The data reveal opportunities to expand access to financial services among people who do not have an account—the unbanked—as well as to promote greater use of digital financial services among those who do have an account. The Global Findex database has become a mainstay of global efforts to promote financial inclusion. In addition to being widely cited by scholars and development practitioners, Global Findex data are used to track progress toward the World Bank goal of Universal Financial Access by 2020 and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The database, the full text of the report, and the underlying country-level data for all figures—along with the questionnaire, the survey methodology, and other relevant materials—are available at www.worldbank.org/globalfindex.

Author : Ishac Diwan,Ra?w?n ?Al? Sha?b?n
Publisher : World Bank Publications
Page : 260 pages
File Size : 51,5 Mb
Release : 1999-01-01
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 0821344188

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Development Under Adversity by Ishac Diwan,Ra?w?n ?Al? Sha?b?n Pdf

"War, border closures, violence, and unemployment have hampered the Palestinian economy for over a decade. Despite these obstacles and setbacks, the future outlook is optimistic." Based on the research of the Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute (MAS), the World Bank, and other organizations, 'Development Under Adversity' reviews the development of the Palestinian economy since the 1993 Declaration of Principles. The Palestinian economy has enormous potential. Its general development indicators, including life expectancy, literacy, and child mortality rates, are among the best in the Middle East and North Africa. The book identifies the conditions under which the Palestinian economy can grow. They include trade channels that reduce the economy's reliance on Israel; the creation of a more efficient civil service; more investment-oriented public expenditure; and more resourceful support from NGOs in the delivery of health, education, welfare, and infrastructure services. 'Development Under Adversity' provides historical background, an objective examination of recent economic and political developments, and a comprehensive analysis of the contribution that the donor community can make toward alleviating poverty. Throughout its analysis, the book focuses on the human consequences of economic uncertainty. It studies the social and household costs of border closures, and includes complete chapters about the education and health sectors. The result is a book that will be relevant to a wide range of institutional and private lenders, as well as to anyone with a general interest in the well-being and future of the Palestinian economy.

Author : United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
Publisher : United Nations
Page : 377 pages
File Size : 50,8 Mb
Release : 2019-08-09
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9789213582824

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World Investment Report 2019 by United Nations Conference on Trade and Development Pdf

The 2019 edition of the World Investment Report focuses on special economic zones (SEZs) which are widely used across most developing and many developed economies. Although the performance of many zones remains below expectations, the rate of establishment of new zones is accelerating as governments increasingly compete for internationally mobile industrial activity. Policymakers face not only the traditional challenges to making SEZs succeed, including the need for strategic focus, sound governance models, and effective investment promotion tools, but also new challenges brought about by the sustainable development imperative, the new industrial revolution, and changing patterns of international production. The Report explores the place of SEZs in today’s global investment landscape and provides guidance for policymakers on how to make SEZs work for sustainable development. It presents international investment trends and prospects at global, regional and national levels, as well as the evolution of international production and global value chains. It analyses the latest developments in new policy measures for investment promotion, facilitation and regulation around the world, as well as updates on investment treaties, their reform and investment dispute settlement cases.

Author : Khaled Elgindy
Publisher : Brookings Institution Press
Page : 267 pages
File Size : 47,7 Mb
Release : 2019-04-02
Category : History
ISBN : 9780815731566

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Blind Spot by Khaled Elgindy Pdf

A critical examination of the history of US-Palestinian relations The United States has invested billions of dollars and countless diplomatic hours in the pursuit of Israeli-Palestinian peace and a two-state solution. Yet American attempts to broker an end to the conflict have repeatedly come up short. At the center of these failures lay two critical factors: Israeli power and Palestinian politics. While both Israelis and Palestinians undoubtedly share much of the blame, one also cannot escape the role of the United States, as the sole mediator in the process, in these repeated failures. American peacemaking efforts ultimately ran aground as a result of Washington’s unwillingness to confront Israel’s ever-deepening occupation or to come to grips with the realities of internal Palestinian politics. In particular, the book looks at the interplay between the U.S.-led peace process and internal Palestinian politics—namely, how a badly flawed peace process helped to weaken Palestinian leaders and institutions and how an increasingly dysfunctional Palestinian leadership, in turn, hindered prospects for a diplomatic resolution. Thus, while the peace process was not necessarily doomed to fail, Washington’s management of the process, with its built-in blind spot to Israeli power and Palestinian politics, made failure far more likely than a negotiated breakthrough. Shaped by the pressures of American domestic politics and the special relationship with Israel, Washington’s distinctive “blind spot” to Israeli power and Palestinian politics has deep historical roots, dating back to the 1917 Balfour Declaration and the British Mandate. The size of the blind spot has varied over the years and from one administration to another, but it is always present.