Minister of Industry visits Bethlehem Industrial City and meets with private sector and local community figures

Bethlehem - Ma'an - As part of the activities of the Industrial Estates and Free Zones Authority, the Minister of Industry and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Authority, "Arafat Asfour", visited the Bethlehem Industrial City. He opened his visit by meeting with the city's industrial activists and representatives of the local community, and conveyed to them the Prime Minister's greetings, in which he stressed the need to continue working to develop the infrastructure of Palestinian industry, especially in light of the fierce war that our people are being subjected to, targeting people, trees and stones. Minister Asfour stressed that the Bethlehem Industrial City is considered one of the most important projects that the government is paying attention to, among the industrial projects, as the restructuring of the Ministry of Industry and the Industrial Cities Authority came in fulfillment of the vision of His Excellency President Mahmoud Abbas in supporting Palestinian industry and an essential part of the components of the nineteenth government, in response to the aspirations of the Palestinian private sector, especially the industrial sector, due to its great importance in developing the national industry. He thanked the French government for its support for this pioneering project in Palestine, and commended the investors who continue to work in difficult and exceptional circumstances, as well as the developer who works at a balanced pace that takes into account the seriousness of the current situation. He welcomed the role of the local community, which constitutes the social incubator for the project and the primary provider of labor, and thanked the Authority's staff for its achievements in effective partnership with all project partners. The Bethlehem Industrial City project is located on an area of ??195 thousand square meters, distributed over 40 industrial lease contracts, 20 of which are operating factories, while 4 are preparing to operate by the end of the year, and there are 16 factories u nder construction and preparing to operate before the middle of next year. The industrial city will be fully operational by the end of 2025. The Minister toured four factories of productive projects and projects that will start operating and was briefed on the progress of work throughout the project. He met with factory owners and listened to them and the challenges they face. He stressed to them all that the Bethlehem Industrial City is the dream of the new generation, an advanced step towards economic growth, and a move towards export in Palestine, and creating job opportunities in the region. He added, therefore, we must gain momentum together in the current project of the Bethlehem Industrial City in order to think smoothly about expanding to other areas of the governorate and building new industrial projects. Source: Maan News Agency