Palestine signs $112m cooperation deal with Spain

A memorandum of understanding on economic development and cooperation spanning the next four years has been signed between Palestine and Spain at a value of €100 million ($112 million), reported Wafa news agency.

The agreement, signed by Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Malki and his Spanish counterpart Arancha Gonzalez Laya, includes support for the employment sector and the Palestinian economy, agriculture and water sector.

“This agreement signed today, and Spanish support for us, like many countries in the world, constitutes a message to Israel and the United States that the world stands with Palestine and supports it in building its state institutions on the road towards ending the occupation and promoting peace and stability in the region,” said the Palestinian Authority Prime Minister, Mohammed Shtayyeh.

“The sectors covered by the Memorandum of Understanding are important to us at this time because they go in line with the government’s development plans for these sectors,” he said.

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Moreover, Spain will be contributing €5 million ($5.6 million) annually to help the Palestinian government build institutions for education to improve health and social protection and support civil society organisations concerned with human rights and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA).

The country was one of the donors that took part in the global meeting on UNRWA at ministerial level hosted earlier this week by the governments of Sweden and Jordan, during which 75 governments and non-governmental organisations pledged $130 million.

Shtayyeh expressed hope that Spain “will lead the European Union and break the de facto situation by recognising the Palestinian state with its capital, Jerusalem, on the 1967 borders, and imposing sanctions on Israel in light of its annexation plans.”