BETHLEHEM, West Bank, May 21: A conference seeking investment in the Palestinian territories opened on Wednesday in the biblical city of Bethlehem with calls for international business leaders to pump money into the struggling economy.

Moderate Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas welcomed hundreds of participants to the first ever Palestine Investment Conference, showcasing business opportunities and projects in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

“We hope that the private sector will be able to play its role as the main engine of economic growth, capable of attracting capital,” Abbas said at the opening event, attended by former British prime minister Tony Blair, now the envoy of the Middle East diplomatic Quartet monitoring the peace process.

“I call on Arab and international business leaders to explore the investment opportunities in Palestine,” he said, adding that “security and the economy are the foundations of peace and their absence feeds frustration and extremism.”

Some 109 projects costing about $2 billion will be presented by Palestinian business leaders to the 1,200 people who are expected to attend the conference, which runs through Friday.

“Two billion dollars may seem like a modest sum but in Palestine it would lead to the creation of 50,000 jobs over a period of three to five years if these projects are undertaken,” said conference director Hassan Abu Libdeh.

“Most of the projects to be presented involve infrastructure and housing,” he added.

The idea of the Bethlehem gathering was launched at a Paris conference of donors in December. The donors pledged $7.7 billion in assistance for the Palestinian territories, but by early May, only $717 million was actually paid out.

The World Bank says that since 2000, the Palestinian economy turned from one driven by investment and private sector productivity to one sustained by government spending and donor aid. The bank said economic growth would be stagnant in 2008.

The West Bank’s economy is crippled by more than 500 Israeli roadblocks since 2000 which hamper movement throughout the occupied territory.

“This conference is not about philanthropy. Despite the obstacles, there are real business opportunities in the Palestinian territories,” said Douglas Alexander, Britain’s international development secretary, in a statement.

On the sidelines of the conference, the Qatar-based company Diar signed a partnership deal with the Palestinian enterprise Massar to build a 5,000-unit housing development near Ramallah, estimated to cost more than $350 million.

There has been strong backing for the conference from the United States, with major US companies Intel and Cisco among the sponsors.—AFP