GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — During his April 22 visit to the headquarters of the Felesteen newspaper in Gaza City, Osama Kahil, the head of the Palestinian Contractors Union in the Gaza Strip, said the union is organizing a conference and exhibition in Gaza City involving 400 Arab investors and contractors in order to open up new investment channels for Gazan contractors.

The Israeli siege, which has been ongoing since 2007, has caused the Gaza construction sector $60 million in losses and driven 50 companies out of the market.

Kahil told Al-Monitor, “The exhibition seeks to promote the Gaza construction sector by sharing with the Arab investors and contractors what the construction companies have experienced.” He added, “The goal is to have these investors finance economic and development projects in Gaza, particularly since USAID, whose operational projects are estimated at around $215 million a year, ceased activities in the Palestinian territories.” Kahil also said the exhibition seeks “to convince Arab investors and businessmen to have Gaza construction companies operate in Arab countries such as Jordan, Egypt, Algeria, Sudan and Oman.”

He said, “We prepared a list of 250 Arab contractors and businessmen to be invited to the conference. They are mainly from Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Sudan, Algeria, Oman and Qatar; 150 contractors from the West Bank will be also invited. The exhibition will be held under the umbrella of the Palestinian Authority (PA), from which we seek approval for the exhibition to be held in September.”