Shawwa calls on businessmen and Arab financial institutions to seize investment opportunities in Palestine
The “Palestinian Banking Sector Reality Conference: Opportunities and Challenges” was launched today under the auspices of H.E. Dr. Ziad Fariz, the Governor of the Central Bank of Jordan and H.E. Mr. Azzam Shawwa, the Governor of the Palestine Monetary Authority. The Conference was organized following an initiative by the Union of Arab Banks and Palestine Monetary Authority in cooperation with the Central Bank of Jordan, the Council of Arab Economic Unity of the Arab League, and the Association of Banks in Palestine and its Jordanian counterpart, the Association of Banks in Jordan. The two-day Conference is held at the Kempinski Hotel Ishtar Dead Sea in Jordan and attended by Sheikh Mohammed Jarrah Al-Sabah, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Union of Arab Banks; Mohamed Ismail Al Rabeaa, the Secretary General of the Council of Arab Economic Unity; Dr. Mohammad Shtayyeh, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Palestinian Economic Council for Development and Reconstruction (PECDAR); H.E. Abeer Odeh, the Minister of National Economy; representatives of the banking sectors of Jordan and Palestine; officials from the banking and financial sectors; and businesspeople.
H.E. Mr. Azzam Shawwa expressed gratitude in his speech during the launching of the Conference agenda to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and to His Majesty King Abdullah II for hosting the Conference. H.E. Mr. Azzam Shawwa also showed appreciation to the contributors and participants in the Conference including the Union of Arab Banks for its initiative to hold the Conference and the Central Bank of Jordan for sponsoring the Conference and the Council of Arab Economic Unity, the Association of Banks in Jordan and the Association of Banks in Palestine for their effective contribution to holding the Conference. H.E. Mr. Azzam Shawwa also extended the greetings of the Palestinian President H.E. Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Prime Minister Dr. Rami Alhamdallah to the participants of the Conference.
H.E. Mr. Azzam Shawwa stated that organizing the Conference was taking place while Palestine was undergoing difficult political and economic circumstances due to the continuation of the Israeli occupation. However, despite the obstacles that people face in Palestine, development, growth, education, and building of the economy and the institutions of the State of Palestinian, including capital city Jerusalem, go on with strength and professionalism, according to H.E. Mr. Azzam Shawwa. Mr. Shawwa added, “The Conference is an invitation to businesspeople and Arab financial institutions to seize the investment opportunities in Palestine, especially in Jerusalem. Our message to our Arab brothers is to invest in Jerusalem. The Conference is also an opportunity to introduce the economic sectors Jerusalem and the Palestinian investment environment and advantages, and to introduce Palestinian investors to Arab partnerships and unions and the chances to cooperate with them, and the role of the Council of Arab Economic Unity in supporting and empowering the Palestinian economy and promoting trade with Arab countries.”
Mr. Shawwa pointed out to the measures and arrangements recently taken by PMA to develop the functions of the banking system, to ensure financial stability and inclusion, as well as commitment to international banking standards and bases. PMA also developed a group of systems that enabled the Palestinians banking system to reach a state of stability, strength, development, and ability to face risks, including most prominently the national payments system, credit information system, returned checks system, geographic information system (GIS), and establishing the Palestine Deposit Insurance Corporation, which provided immediate coverage ceiling of $10,000 to 94% of depositors. This had boosted the financial safety net in Palestine, said Mr. Shawwa. PMA is developing an electronic clearance system, mobile phone payment system, as well as banking legislations including Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Terrorism Financing Decree-law number 20 of 2015, according to Mr. Shawwa. The central bank law would be approved in the near future after its draft had been reviewed by local and international experts.
Mr. Shawwa added, “There are 15 local and foreign banks operating in Palestine. Their net assets totaled $13.8 billion at the end of November 2016. PMA has implemented plan to deal with weak banks including restructuring and integration among banks, gradual raise over the past years of the capital limit of banks operating in Palestine, recent application of Basel II relative to capital adequacy, risk management, supervisory revision of internal assessment of capital adequacy, and adopting risk-based supervision approach.”
Mr. Shawwa pointed out to the efforts and measures, which were taken and had positive impact on boosting capital solvency and enhancing risk management of the Palestinian banking sector including developing legal frameworks and human capacity of Islamic banking in Palestine. Work is underway to establishing higher Shari’a supervisory commission that would involve experts on Islamic banking and fiqh muamalat (jurisprudence of transactions). Moreover, work is underway to supervise and regulate the specialized lending institutions by increasing the financing they provide, ensuring the safety of their work, their efficiency, and their effectiveness, which would boost financial stability in specialized lending sector and supervision and regulation of currency exchange businesses.
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