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West Bank and Gaza
>> Regional Overview >>West Bank and Gaza Overview Program Data Sheet
294-001USAID MISSION: West Bank & Gaza
PROGRAM TITLE: Private Sector (Pillar: Economic Growth, Agriculture, and Trade)
STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE AND NUMBER: Expanded Economic Opportunities, 294-001
STATUS: Continuing
PLANNED FY 2002 OBLIGATION AND FUNDING SOURCE: $9,601,000 ESF
PRIOR YEAR UNOBLIGATED FUNDS AND FUNDING SOURCE: $3,650,000 ESF; $5,000,000 ESF (Wye Supplemental Funds)
PROPOSED FY 2003 OBLIGATION AND FUNDING SOURCE: $11,034,076 ESF
INITIAL OBLIGATION: FY 1996 ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE: FY 2004Summary: USAID’s West Bank/Gaza Private Sector program combines emergency relief objectives with longer-term development goals by focusing on—
- emergency lending and sustainable microfinance through banks and NGOs;
- improved access to credit through the leasing and mortgage finance markets;
- technical assistance for sectors (information technology and construction) with trade and investment potential;
- institutional support for industrial estates, and trade and investment advocacy organizations;
- business facilitation and policy reform through self-regulatory organizations; and
- emergency business recovery, credit facilitation, and technical assistance for mid-sized firms.
Beneficiaries of this strategic objective include members of the private sector, disadvantaged women, the banking sector, business associations, members of the accounting and auditing professions, and industrial estates.
Inputs, Outputs, and Activities: FY 2002 Program: USAID will use prior year unobligated ESF funds, Wye Supplemental Funds, and FY 2002 ESF funds to fund three cooperative agreements with microfinance providers to increase the value and types of financial services available to the poor. Technical assistance will be provided to ensure the sustainability of the microfinance industry and further expand the range of financial services available. The development of the non-bank financial sector, through the leasing, mortgage finance, and insurance sectors should mobilize capital quickly for cash-starved businesses. The two key sectors for the growth of the Palestinian economy, construction services and information technology, will be supported with a technical assistance program aimed at stimulating exports, investment, and employment. USAID will also provide the design work and off-site infrastructure, including improving road access to the site, upgrading the water supply, providing a wastewater management system, and installing electricity for a local industrial estate near Gaza City. To enhance crossborder trade, design and construction work is proceeding for a General Logistics Facility to house a common bonded warehouse at the Qarni border crossing. USAID will continue to support the apex trade organization, Paltrade, to guide its emerging leadership as a moderate voice and advocate for the private sector. The emergency Palestinian Enterprise Revitalization Program will provide firm-level technical assistance and financial facilitation services to help businesses recover from the current economic crisis. Further, as part of the global war on terrorism, USAID will provide technical assistance to strengthen the capacity of the Palestinian Monetary Authority to better detect, investigate, and deter money-laundering activities.
Planned FY 2003 Program: USAID plans to use the FY 2003 ESF resources requested in this Budget Justification to expand or complete the following activities: 1) the Palestinian Enterprise Revitalization Program; 2) the Market Access Program, providing technical support to the construction services and information technology sectors; 3) an Annual Program Statement/Global Development Alliance for a new activity in the Information Technology Sector, which would help improve private sector IT capability through training, internships, and technical assistance; 4) construction support for the development of local industrial estates and the Gaza Logistics Facility; 5) support for Paltrade and other business and trade associations; 6) the non-bank financial institutions activity to improve access to finance through the mortgage finance, leasing and insurance markets; 7) the emergency response cooperative agreements aimed at providing immediate capital for small and microenterprises and for the repair of shelters and homes; and 8) the three-year activity to enhance the growth of micro lending and establish a sustainable microfinance industry, which is slated for completion in FY 2003.
SUBMISSION OF THIS PROGRAM DATA SHEET CONSTITUTES FORMAL RENOTIFICATION OF USAID’S INTENT TO OBLIGATE FY 2002 RESOURCES FOR THE ACTIVITIES DESCRIBED ABOVE. Performance and Results: The strong performance of Palestinian information technology companies at a recent exhibition in Dubai led to an invitation to the Palestinian Information Technology Association to open a representative office at Dubai Internet City. This is evidence of the resilience of the Palestinian private sector and its receptivity to USAID assistance. USAID will continue to pioneer support for the Palestinian private sector, while delivering much-needed financial services to the poor through its emergency financial services program. USAID will continue to successfully champion the important role of Palestinian business associations as links to global economies and political moderation.
The groundbreaking work being done in the leasing and mortgage finance sectors are expected to unleash previously untapped sources of private capital. In addition, USAID aims to deliver increased and broader access to micro financial services, including new savings, credit, and insurance instruments to benefit emerging microbusinesses. The private sector will be supported, and new jobs created, through the development of border and local industrial estates aimed at both the export and local markets. The known potential of the information technology and construction services sectors, as engines of employment creation and as platforms for exports to the Gulf and elsewhere, will be exploited. USAID will continue its support for economic regulatory and self-regulatory institutions, including the Palestinian Industrial Estate and Free Zone Authority, the Palestinian Investment Promotion Association and the accounting and auditing associations. Support for the Palestinian Monetary Authority will strengthen the capacity to identify, detect, and investigate money-laundering schemes. Other important outputs will be the passage of accounting, banking, capital markets, and securities industry laws. All of this will contribute to the laying of a solid framework for commercial activities, one that is transparent and on a par with global standards and which can attract global investment into the Palestinian territories.
Principal Contractors, Grantees, or Agencies: Principal contractors include Arab Bank; Bank of Jordan; Chemonics International, Inc.; Development Alternatives, Inc.; PALTRADE; Barents Group; Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu; The Services Group; U.S. Department of Agriculture; and Financial Markets International.
US Financing in Thousands of Dollars
294-001 Expanded economic opportunities ESF Through September 30, 2000 Obligations 53,869 Expenditures 32,120 Unliquidated 21,749 Fiscal Year 2001 Obligations 8,039 Expenditures 9,109 Through September 30, 2001 Obligations 61,908 Expenditures 41,229 Unliquidated 20,679 Prior Year Unobligated Funds Obligations 8,650 Planned Fiscal Year 2002 NOA Obligations 9,601 Total Planned Fiscal Year 2002 Obligations 18,251 Proposed Fiscal Year 2003 NOA Obligations 11,034 Future Obligations 11,034 Est. Total Cost 102,227
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Last Updated on: May 29, 2002 |
