Italian company to supply Egyptian natural gas to Palestine
Palestine-Egypt-Italy, Business, 10/13/1998

Italian Hydrocarbons Holding "ENI" and the Palestinian government signed Monday in the west bank town of Ramallah a long-term agreement under which the Italian holding will supply the Palestinian autonomous territories with natural gas.

Under the agreement, "ENI" will convey natural gas from Egyptian gas mines to the Palestinian territories. The design, construction and management of energy infrastructure in the Palestinian territories will be entrusted to a Palestinian-Italian joint venture.

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat deemed the agreement as very important for the Palestinians. He added that ENI is a reliable and technologically-advanced partner.

ENI chairman, Gugliemo Moscato, said the agreement is a first concrete step for the carrying out of the "Peace pipeline" that his company has been contemplating for several years.

The peace pipeline is expected to convey natural gas from the Egyptian Port-Said gas fields through the Mediterranean shores. It will cross Gaza to reach Haifa and subsequently to Turkey via Lebanon and Syria.

The agreement comes as a delegation of Palestinian businessmen discussed with officials in the Egyptian Industrial Union in Cairo yesterday methods of increasing commercial exchange between Egypt and Palestine and establishing joint industrial projects to break the Israeli siege on the Palestinian economy.

Mohammed Masrouga, the head of the Palestinian Businessmen's Association, stated that businessmen and industrialists in Palestine have been suffering for more than 30 years because of the siege imposed by the Israeli authorities on Palestinian industry and trade, which is represented in halting imports and exports except through Israeli firms and not giving new industrial licenses and opposing the establishment of industry and trade in Palestine.

He said that Palestinian imports are worth nearly $3 billion annually and that 90% of that volume comes from Israel, while the value of Egyptian imports from Palestine is less than LE 50,000.

He also pointed to the Palestinian businessmen's hope that the volume of commercial exchange with the Arab countries may equal the commercial exchange with Israel.

Previous Stories:
  Oasis Casino: gambling succeeds where peace fails   (9/23/1998)
  Discussions for export of Egyptian gas to Turkey   (8/18/1998)
  British - Egyptian company to connect natural gas lines to southern Egypt   (7/2/1998)

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