The Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute (MAS), in cooperation with the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies, will hold a symposium on Tuesday, 6 June 2023 at 12:00 pm Jerusalem and Doha time, 09:00 GMT, to launch an economic policy paper on the prospects for Palestinian economic cooperation and integration on both sides of the Green Line. The symposium will be held in person at the headquarters of MAS Institute in Ramallah, and on Zoom with simultaneous interpretation between Arabic and English.

The paper sheds light on economic and commercial relations between Palestinians on both sides of the Green Line. It reveals the importance of finding ways to take advantage of available opportunities and overcome difficulties by establishing a large, extensive incubator for economic cooperation and role complementarity in the struggle against colonization, to safeguard the best development interests of the Palestinian people. This would allow Palestinians to exploit the demographic balance for the benefit of the Palestinian economy and to strengthen the steadfastness of the Palestinians throughout historical Palestine.

The first part of the symposium will be devoted to presenting a data platform on internal Arab establishments presented by MAS researcher, Ahmed Alawneh, which will then be discussed by Ahmed Al-Sheikh from the Galilee Society (the Arab National Society for Research and Health Services) and Dr. Ayhab Saad, associate professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies. In the second part, Dr. Rabeh Morrar and Dr. Mtanes Shehadeh will review the most important recommendations of the joint policy paper, followed by a discussion with the Minister of National Economy, Khaled al-Osaily, Chairman of the Council of Arab Mayors in Israel, and Mohammad Alamour, representative of the Palestinian Private Sector Coordination Council.

Raja Khalidi, MAS Director General, indicated that interest in this topic is directly related to the future of the Palestinian economy, noting that the symposium will explore the development of the Palestinian economy inside the Green Line and its relations with the economy in the 1967 occupied Palestinian territories. This data will help sculpt a more accurate understanding of the nature of this economy on both sides of the Green Line.

The discussion will focus on the key interventions discussed in the Policy Paper, namely:

• Supporting and encouraging channels of economic integration between the Palestinians on both sides of the Green Line.
• Improving the investment climate and making amendments to the current investment laws.
• Investing in infrastructure and allocating land and public space appropriate to the development of common Palestinian interests.
• Developing the Palestinian legal system related to conflict resolution.
• Developing a common database for investment opportunities.