EXTRA: 50 million private equity fund established for Palestinians

Thu, 28 Jan 2010

Davos, Switzerland -A 50-million-dollar equity fund was established Thursday for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in the Palestinian territories at the World Economic Forum in Davos. The announcement of the fund, the first of its kind, came from the publicly-owned Palestine Investment Fund and the private Abraaj Capital, one of the largest equity groups in the Middle East.

According to the announcement, SMEs make up "more than 95 per cent of enterprises in Palestine, 84 per cent of private-sector employment and 55 per cent of gross domestic product."

The public fund and private equity group said businesses were lacking access to capital in the Palestinian territories and cash was needed to grow the troubled area's economic prospects.

The new fund closed 15 million dollars initially, and was aiming to garner the rest over the course of the year from other investors.

Palestinian Premier Salam Fayyad was set to attend the annual Davos meet later in the day.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/306305,extra-50-million-private-equity-fund-established-for-palestinians.html.