Formulation for a Trade program in 2020 for Palestine

The Palestinian economy keeps facing structural limitations in its trade growth, partly caused by Israeli policies. Currently only 2.4% of Palestinian exports go to the European Union. There is an evident growth potential if obstacles are reduced in the field of 1) infrastructure; 2) linking Palestinian

SMEs to European markets and 3) facilitating trade across borders and checkpoints. In order to ease the bottlenecks, 2 business cases have been developed in 2018 under EU funded programs: one focuses on a “EU market penetration strategy" and the other on "quality infrastructure". The proposed (implementation) actions require further elaboration and a budget, which is the aim of this project.

There is a common opinion that EU market penetration in selected niche markets (certain EU member states) is feasible under the condition that a targeted promotion program is initiated, particularly for olive oil, dates, fresh vegetables and herbs, furniture and pharmaceuticals as well as services sectors (tourism, ICT). The strategy should make use of Palestinian diaspora, living in various EU member states, and should include assistance and capacity building in order to increase skills in export-related activities (think of negotiation skills and export promotion services).

In any intervention related to the two business cases, the EU considers that three components should be included: 1) strengthening of standardization, accreditation and conformity assessments, 2) coordination with other interventions regarding development of market surveillance systems for non-food and 3) improving the private sector’s awareness on new legislation and quality requirements. Furthermore, the EU believes that efforts in supporting green economy / renewable energy shall be considered

The overall objective of the project consists in supporting EUREP and the Palestinian Authority with promoting West Bank and Gaza trade thanks to the formulation of a trade program to promote trade-oriented SME development in Palestine, and that takes into account the elements described above.