Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

TOBB’s affiliate, TOBB-BİS Inc. will construct an organized industry zone in the city of Jenin in the Western Bank. During the ceremony attended by the Palestinian Prime Minister Rami el-Hamdallah, National Economy Minister Cevat Naci, Treasury Minister Şükrü Bişara and Turkey’s Consul to Jerusalem Ambassador Şakir Özkan Torunlar and TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, the “Memorandum of Understanding for the Payment of the Expropriation of Worth for 10 Million USD’ was signed.

- Employment for 6,000 Palestinians

In his speech prior to the ceremony, Hisarcıklıoğlu reported that they’ve overcome an important obstacle and said, “We are at turning point; I wanted to be at this stage 8 years ago. This place has taught me something special. An Arab proverb goes: ‘Grapes are eaten one-by-one’ while a Turkish proverb says: ‘Later, not harder’. With this memorandum of understanding we have solved the problem of expropriation. Now we can expend our energy on building the best industrial zone in the world.”

Afterwards, the memorandum of understanding was signed by TOBB-BİS Inc. Chairman Ahmet Şekeroğlu, Palestine representative National Economy Minister Naci and Treasury Minister Bişara.

- Completion in 3 years

The project which will directly provide employment to 6,000 people also has the support of the German government. The Jenin Organized Industry Zone which will be built on a 920,000 square meters of land will be situated 30 kilometers to the Haifa Port and Jordan border. The project is planned to be completed in 3 years if construction goes as scheduled.

Accompanying M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu in Palestine were Gaziantep Chamber of Industry (GSO) President Adil Konukoğlu, TOBB Vice President and İstanbul Chamber of Commerce (İTO) President İbrahim Çağlar and Turkish businessmen.