Sharakat, PIF’s arm for agriculture and SMES, signed an agreement on Wednesday, October 17, 2018 with the Palestine Industrial Investment Co. (PIIC), PADICO’s industrial arm, to establish an animal feed factory in the southern part of the West Bank. The ceremony was attended by the Minister of National Economy H.E Abeer Odeh and the Minister of Agriculture H.E. Dr. Sufian Sultan, as well as representatives from the private sector.

The factory aims to close a critical gap in the local market, which is highly dependent on imported animal feed, especially in the south of the West Bank. Estimated yearly consumption of animal feed in the West Bank stands at 820,000 tons, equivalent to 348 million USD. Currently, 68% of this figure is imported from Israel, with only 32% coming from local production. The factory, with a production capacity of 20 ton per an hour initially and 40 ton per an hour at a later stage, is expected to reduce animal feed imports, in addition to providing grains storage facilities with a capacity of 20,000 tons.

Dr. Mohammad Mustafa, Chairman of the Board of Directors of PIF, commented: “The animal feed plant and other similar projects align with PIF’s strategy to reduce imports and target investment towards Palestine’s productive sectors . We regard this factory as catalyst for locally produced animal feeds to substitute imported feed at competitive prices. This will help farmers increase their profit margins, reduce the cost of the livestock upkeep, and substitute imported goods with locally produced goods.”

“PIF seeks to open new opportunities for the private sector to take part in this and other similar developmental projects. The animal feed factory will be established in partnership with PADICO’s industrial arm, ‘Industrial Palestine Industrial Investment Co. (PIIC)’. This type of collaboration, both in terms of efforts and resources, is critical to support the development of Palestine’s agriculture sector.” Mustafa continued.

Dr. Nidal Sukhtian, Chairman of the Palestine Industrial Investment Co. (PIIC) stressed explained that PADICO Holding aims to collectivize the efforts of Palestinian private investors and businesses in Palestine and abroad, and guide them towards growing the Palestinian economy, which has been suffering from occupation. “Accordingly, PADICO has established and managed many companies that are considered to be main players in the Palestinian economy’s most vital sectors. Specifically, in the industrial sector, PADICO’s efforts have focused on investments which will provide food security for Palestinians. These have achieved a remarkable impact in the livestock sector and helped make it less reliant on the Israeli economy,” Sukhtian explained.

Mr. Abdel Hakim Al Foqaha’, CEO of the Palestine Industrial Investment Co. (PIIC) said, “Despite the notable success of the livestock sectors in securing a large portion of the Palestinian people’s needs and decreasing reliance on Israel, Palestine is still highly dependent on Israel when it comes to supplying these sectors with animal feed. Therefore, investment in animal feed—such as this project—is sorely needed, particularly in the southern West Bank, where the sector is almost entirely dependent on Israel. MrFoqaha added, “Given our vast experience in this industry, and the administrative and financial expertise of our partner, Sharakat, with whom we have had success on the Aziza project, we believe that all of this combined will result in great success for this specific project.”

Mr. Naseem Noor, Executive Director of Sharakat, said: “The factory will work on securing a national product that matches the quality of the imported animal feed. For the first time, Hebron will have grains reserve that will limit the increase in prices and Israeli’s continuous blockade”.

Mr. Noor pointed out that the investment capital of the factory is estimated at more than $13 million, and will enable other investments in the livestock sector, in addition to providing hundreds of direct and indirect employment opportunities. He also added that Sharakat’s upcoming strategy targets the agriculture sector as one of its main pillars.