Rushanara Ali – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rushanara Ali on 2015-10-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the Government is taking to support economic growth in the Palestinian Territories.

Mr Desmond Swayne

DFID is promoting private sector development which contributes to state and peacebuilding in the Occupied Palestinian Territories by supporting fiscal sustainability, and reducing unemployment and poverty. DFID’s focus is on increasing growth and employment in key sectors, such as manufacturing, tourism, IT, and agriculture. Our support is channelled through the Palestinian Market Development Programme which seeks to improve the competitiveness of the Palestinian private sector, and through our support to the Office of the Quartet which attempts to make it easier to trade by removing movement and access restrictions.