A business conference helped raise $1.4 billion in investments for projects aimed at bolstering Palestinians' battered economy, the Palestinian prime minister said Friday.
The investments could create as many as 35,000 jobs, Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said at the end of the three-day conference, which drew more than 500 foreign investors, many from the Arab world, along with hundreds more from the Palestinian territories, the AP reported.
More than $500 million of the investments are in real estate and $65 million are in high-tech, Fayyad said.
But the conference was not without its critics. Most of the money will go into construction, creating temporary jobs rather than steady employment. And the largest investment - $650 million by a new mobile phone provider - has been in the works for 18 months, and Israel still hasn't given final approval for the necessary frequencies. The company said Thursday it has been assured approval is imminent.
Critics also said investment is risky in the turbulent Palestinian territories - especially at a time when the fate of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks is uncertain - and because of restricted access for some foreigners to the Palestinian areas.
Still, Fayyad, a respected economist, declared the conference a success, saying it was "the start of moving the wheel of the economy."
The Palestinian economy has been severely hampered by Israeli restrictions on Palestinian trade, imposed after the outbreak of a Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation in 2000. Delays at Israeli checkpoints can make it hard for Palestinian exports to deliver their goods on time.
Israel says it can't ease restrictions faster because Palestinian militants still pose a threat. But French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, who attended the conference, disagreed.
" Israel should and Israel can exert more efforts in this regard without endangering its security," Kouchner said.
Kouchner also criticized Israel for ongoing construction in Israeli settlements, which he said obstructs development of the Palestinian economy.
Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said construction continues only in Jewish neighborhoods of east Jerusalem, which Israel does not consider settlements, and inside large West Bank settlement blocs that Israel intends to retain in any final peace accord.
The Palestinians want east Jerusalem as a future capital but Israel annexed the sector of the city to its capital after capturing it in 1967.
The Palestinians also want sovereignty over the entire West Bank, though negotiators have discussed swapping the land where major settlement blocs stand in exchange for an equal amount of Israeli territory.