Prime Minister Ahmad Qurei greets guests at the NEDC. More than 150 people gathered to discuss various economic issues. A distinguished panel of speakers addressed the conference including Mr. Johny Zeidan of USAID (3rd from right). RELATED PROGRAMS • Economic Growth RELATED ITEMS • Mission Director Addresses Federation of Industries • Success of the Paltrade Internship Assistance Program • Seven Business Sector MOUs Signed in Ramallah • When Opportunity Knocks: How a $100 Loan Changes Lives RELATED SITES • Paltrade

The second National Economic Dialogue Conference was held in the West Bank on November 18, 2003 under the auspices of Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmad Qurei. More than 150 private- sector representatives and three Palestinian Authority Ministers gathered to discuss seven papers that addressed various economic issues. The Coordination Council of the Palestinian Private Sector Organizations organized the conference.

Johnny Zeidan represented USAID as one of the keynote speakers. Other keynote speakers included Prime Minister Qurei, John Wetter of the World Bank, Dr. Azmi Al-Shuaibi representing civil society organizations, and Nassar Nassar, chairman of Paltrade. The three ministers in attendance were Nabil Kassis (Planning), Ghasan Khatib (Labor) and Maher El-Masri (National Economy and Trade).

Prime Minister Qurei spoke about how the economy in the territories has been largely ignored as a result of the Intifada. He pledged to expand reform and announced that the reform agenda will become a priority of the Prime Minister's Office. Mr. Wetter of the World Bank highlighted new findings about the positive change in employment figures in the third quarter of this year. The third quarter was the highest employment rate since the start of the Intifada.

Mr. Zeidan spoke of the continued commitment of the United States Government to support the Roadmap for peace in the territories. He also mentioned President Bush's National Security Strategy which emphases the importance of integrating emerging economies into the global economy as a powerful force for economic growth and poverty reduction. Furthermore, Mr. Zeidan spoke of USAID's continuing commitment to support the Palestinians. "We will work with you to: one, strengthen the West Bank and Gaza's commercial law and banking systems. Two, increase transparency and reduce corruption in government and corporate entities. Three, improve dispute resolution mechanisms. Four, facilitate revenue and employment growth of micro, small and medium enterprises. Five, expand business access to capital, technical and managerial capacities. And, six, stimulate the continuation of Palestinian entrepreneurship." Zeidan told the gathered crowd.

The conference was a culmination of more than 24 trade facilitation workshops in which 20 papers were delivered and discussed. More than 340 businessmen and private sector representatives participated in these workshops preceding the conference. USAID supported these workshops, this conference and the previous conference held in May of 2000 through the National Economic Policy Dialogue Program, which is managed by Paltrade, a USAID partner.