Palestine looks for foreign investment

The Palestinian Legislative Council hopes to finish its deliberations on a special law that regulates foreign investments in Palestinian-controlled areas "in order to open doors wide for foreign investors to come forward and help the creation of a strong Palestinian economy."

Palestinian Legislative Council speaker Ahmad Qurei' said the council will publish in the local press the first draft of the law and called on businessmen, journalists, academics and others to contribute with their own views and comments before the law is brought for its final ratification in three readings by the council.

Since the Palestinian government was established in 1994, Palestinians have hoped for a lot of foreign investment believing that Palestinian and Arab wealthy businessmen would return and pour in some of their money. But due to the lack of proper laws and regulations that would protect their rights, many of those potential investors preferred to step back and wait until the internal situation in Palestinian areas becomes more stable. The lack of a promising future for the peace process has also been blamed for investors' hesitation to join in domestic Palestinian businesses.

Palestinian Legislative Council members have over the past few months demanded that the council speed up discussions of the law in order to have it passed as early possible believing its ratification would help stabilize the relations between the Palestinian government and potential investors in addition to having positive impact of ties between the Palestinian government and the donor countries which so far have covered the bulk of Palestine's budget.