Translated by: Hayat Hernández

The idea of establishing a project of constructing a free industrial region in the Palestinian city Jenin have been on the horizon since 1999, but it has faced many obstacles along the way. Nevertheless, it was on the agenda again last year. In February, the Union of Chambers of Commodity and Exchanges in Turkey (TOBB) officially announced having the authority of the Turkish president “Ardogan” to transfer a big amount of money to Palestine in order to execute the project. In the following, the details on the industrial zone in Janine are being illustrated.

The geographic area and location

The industrial region extends on an 1100-acres area on a barren land north of Janine, which is 3 kilometers away. The region is best known for its strategic location along “Marj bin Amer” plain, famous for producing high quality fruit and vegetables, located between “Sheikh Hussein” passageway on the Jordan lands in the north, and Haifa’s port in the west.

The project phases

The executive process of this project which is held by Turkey and Germany, consists of two phases.

The first phase is funded by Germany with 24 million euros, including all of the exterior infrastructure of the industrial region, and it’s probable to be ready in the middle of this year.

The second phase, sponsored by Turkey with about 10 million dollars, including the interior infrastructure, and expected to start the work soon according to what the Palestinian Minister of Industry “Khaled Al-Asili” stated for the Anadolu news agency.

The Turkish and German role isn’t limited to only sponsoring the project, as the Turkish company for commerce and industrial chambers “Top base” which is in charge of the industrial region’s development, signed a franchise agreement to execute the project and make the fundamental plan, and is considered one of the most significant companies in the union of Turkish chambers of commerce and industry, running 38 industrial regions in turkey.

Additionally, the German role is based on proposing recommendations to the Palestinian side to seek solutions in terms of engineering in order to overcome the problem of choosing the convenient place to establish the sewer pumping station of the industrial region.

The German bank of development is working as well along the industrial region organization to build or buy 45 megawatts transformers and constructing 1700 meter long roads.

Moreover, the Turkish side which is represented by “Top Base”, along with the German presented by “Tempo”, are both working on studying the industries characteristics that suit this region in order to take into account the international health and safety measures so that the factories built are ecofriendly.

The aims of the industrial zone

According to Palestinian officiates, the study on the feasibility of the industrial zone indicates that it will allow 20 thousand job opportunities, 5 thousands of them will be direct and 15 thousand indirect occupations.

Furthermore, the industrial region in Janine would promote the Palestinian industrial production, thus it would enhance Palestine’s exports and improve its trading scale through the agreements between Palestine and the rest of the world, especially that this project is receiving the support from the EU and USA which abide to import the productions of the industrial region and marketing them without any taxes.

Along with the western upholding, the region is receiving a special Turkish interest as the Turkish Union of Chamber of Commerce and Industry have shown their willingness to construct textile and fabric factories and other industries as well, after a field visit they made to the region last month as a result of the Turkish-Palestinian agreement that includes establishing Turkish factories in the industrial zone.

The Turkish interest is driven by turkey’s willingness to promote the trading exchanges with the Palestinian region, as Turkey is considered the second biggest trading partner to Palestine due to the number of commercial exchanges between the two countries that reached 700 million dollars. In addition to that, Turkey is seeking the benefit of being close to Haifa’s port, which has a strategic location on the Mediterranean, through its investments in the industrial zone in Palestinian lands in order to ensure its access to the Arab markets.

A dream come true

Establishing an industrial area in Janine has always been a dream to Palestinians who didn’t lose the persistence of accomplishing it despite the 15 years since the idea was manifested, it’s an aim to Palestinians to promote their productive sector and export all their productions to the rest of the world.

Since the beginning of the last year, with the support of Turkey and Germany, the Palestinian dream of seeing the engines of their factories run in their lands is nearly coming true.

Qatar made a comprehensive leap in the industrial sector over the past three years, where the volume of investments has reached over QR262bn.

The rise in investments contributed to the state’s ability to face challenges, maintain the stability of the local market and boost exports, said the Assistant Undersecretary for Industry Affairs at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI) Mohammed Hassan Al Malki. 

Al Malki said in an interview with Qatar News Agency (QNA) that the past three years have posed a real challenge to both extractive and manufacturing aspects of the industrial sector, which has succeeded greatly in consolidating its pillars and establishing its bases to play its central role in the economic growth of the state. 

He said that the state has dealt intelligently with the unjust blockade imposed on it since mid-2017, and managed to turn this crisis into an opportunity to accelerate its plans in the development of the industrial sector and maintaining economic growth. 

The state has dealt intelligently with this situation, addressed weaknesses in the industrial sector and turned them into strengths, which has led to the success of this sector in covering many of the market needs of industrial products, especially food and pharmaceutical products, which have become competitive with those in the region and the world, he added. 

Al Malki pointed out that the volume of investments in the industrial sector has now reached QR262bn, up from QR255bn in 2017, registering a growth of nearly 3 percent over the past three years.

“Investment growth in the industrial sector continues, and we have a clear strategy for the coming years covering a number of vital sectors, reinforced by important regulatory and legislative reforms in the business environment,” he added. 

He said that the number increased to 893 factories in the current year from 765 factories in 2017, an increase of approximately 17 percent, he said adding, focus over the past three years has been on the food industries, which has made a major leap and contributed to securing the market needs from the necessary goods. 

On the industrial sectors, the Assistant Undersecretary explained that the construction and transport industries sector tops list due to its association with 2022 World Cup projects, with 249 factories (27.9 percent of the total factories in the country), followed by the chemical and petrochemical industries, with 231 industrial establishments assisted by the abundance of raw materials (25.9 percent of the total number of factories). 

He said that the cement and building materials sector, and due to the urbanization witnessed by the state, ranks third with 178 factories, accounting for nearly 20 percent of the total number of factories, then the food and beverage industry sectors , which has 80 factories, accounting for 9 percent of the total number of factories in manufacturing industries.

Al Malki attributed the growth in the industrial sector during the past years to improving many investment laws and increasing the facilities provided to investors, in addition to enhancing private sector’s infrastructure, and addressing many of the challenges facing the local and foreign investor, besides other factors that strengthened the Industrial investment. 

He pointed out that Ministry of Commerce and Industry offers a variety of facilities, including those related to providing industrial lands, customs exemptions on raw materials, equipment and machinery, a preference for electricity pricing, and providing integrated services and advanced infrastructure of electricity, water, sanitation and others.

“There is a great direct support for the industrial investor, and last year we exempted factories from the rental fees for a full year and more than 400 factories benefited from them, whether in the industrial zone that belongs to the ministry or Manateq company’s Mesaieed industrial area,” he added. 

He added: “The manufacturing industries strategy aims to form a map for the next ten years until 2030, Technology part is an important part of this strategy, as the industry today depends mainly on it.” 

He stressed that great attention is given to the technological industries sector, which enhances the successes and achieving the goals set in the industrial strategy.

“We hope to reach our goals by 2030, especially with attention given by the government to this sector,” he said. 

source: thepeninsulaqatar