Economic development projects in the OPT – SecGen report

Economic development projects in the occupied Palestinian territories

Report of the Secretary-General

1. The General Assembly, in its resolution 40/169 of 17 December 1985, called for the urgent lifting of the Israeli restrictions imposed on the economy of the occupied Palestinian territories, recognized the Palestinian interest in

establishing a seaport in the occupied Gaza Strip to give Palestinian firms and products direct access to external markets, called upon all concerned to facilitate the establishment of a seaport in the occupied Gaza Strip, and also called upon all concerned to facilitate the establishment of a cement plant in the occupied West Bank and a citrus plant in the occupied Gaza Strip.

2. In paragraph 5 of that resolution, the Secretary-General was requested to continue his efforts to facilitate the establishment of the above-mentioned projects and to report to the General Assembly at its forty-first session, through the Economic and Social Council, on the progress made in the implementation of the resolution. Accordingly, the Secretary-General transmitted a note verbale, dated 12 March 1986, to the Government of Israel requesting the views of the Government and any relevant information on the subjects mentioned in the resolution.

3. On 7 May 1986, the Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations replied to the note verbale of the Secretary-General, the text of which is reproduced in the annex below.

4. In connection with General Assembly resolution 40/169, the Secretary-General also wishes to draw attention to the information contained in paragraph 85 of his report on assistance to the Palestinian people (A/41/319-E/1986/72).

ANNEX

Letter dated 7 May 1986 from the Permanent Representative of Israel

to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General

Regarding your letter dated 12 March 1986 concerning General Assembly resolution 40/169 of 17 December 1985, I have the honour to direct your attention to the statement made by the Israeli representative to the Second Committee on 11 November 1985. a/

The resolution is biased and politically motivated. Its sponsors falsely accuse Israel of imposing arbitrary economic restrictions in the administered territories, while completely disregarding the improved economic and social conditions of the inhabitants of those areas.

The Government of Israel has undertaken numerous actions to foster economic growth in the administered areas. Since 1967, approximately 1,600 new industrial plants and workshops have been established by local entrepreneurs in Judea and Samaria with the financial assistance of the Israeli Government.  That number does not include the many additional plants that have been established without governmental financial aid. (This is in marked contrast to the 500 plants that existed in this area prior to 1967.)

These plants, factories and workshops cover a variety of industrial sectors.  The following list, by no means exhaustive, indicates some of those sectors:

During the same perlod, 870 new factories were established in Gaza with official Israeli financial assistance. Including the number of plants that have been established without governmental assistance, the actual number is much higher. Among the sectors being developed in Gaza are the following:

Furthermore, Israel's economic policies have facilitated the opening of new markets for industrial exports manufactured in the administered territories. The ports of Ashdod and Haifa remain fully open to the inhabitants of Judea, Samaria and Gaza and products from those territories continue to have free access to external markets. This has led to an accelerated development of the industrial base in Judea, Samaria and Gaza and is manifested by the impressive growth of industrial exports from those areas from $20 million in 1968 to approximately $270 million in 1982. During the last four years, the rate of industrial development in those areas has continued to grow and expand to unprecedented levels.

(Signed)  Johanan BEIN

Ambassador

Chargé d'affaires a.i.

Notes

a/ See A/C.2/40/SR.30.

________________

*A/41/50/Rev.1.

**E/1986/100.