The Palestine Investment Fund (PIF) convened the regular annual meeting of its General Assembly in Ramallah via Zoom. Dr. Mohammad Mustafa, Chairman of PIF Board of Directors, led the meeting that was attended by Board members, General Assembly members, Mr. Fadi Dweik, PIF Director General, the Companies’ Controller Mr. Tareq Al Masri, and the external auditor Mr. Saed Abdallah, representing Ernest & Young Audit Firm.

The Companies’ Controller at the Ministry of National Economy Mr. Tareq Al Masri opened the meeting by asking Dr. Mohammad Mustafa to lead it, and designating a rapporteur, after having announced that the session was legal and that the decisions taken during the session would be considered legal.

Dr. Mohammad Mustafa, Chairman of PIF Board of Directors, explained that PIF has adopted a new strategy for the coming three years 2021-2023, in line with PIF’s vision and mission aiming at building an independent national economy. The strategy is based on a set of themes, the most important of which are the following: concentrating investments inside Palestine, relying on partnership by attracting strategic investors for new and existing projects, investing in vital sectors such as energy, infrastructure, real-estate, health, industry, and agriculture, in addition to continuing the support for SMEs through lending programs offered by local lending and financing institutions operating in Palestine.

Dr. Mustafa presented the main performance indicators for the previous period, according to which PIF provided 75,000 job opportunities through its investment projects and programs, with 39,000 direct job opportunities, 23,00 indirect job opportunities, and 13,000 temporary job opportunities through the real-estate projects implemented by PIF.

The size of direct investments provided by PIF in Jerusalem and the so-called Area C amounted to US$82 million dollars, while more than 11,800 companies and projects benefitted from PIF’s programs and investments, including projects benefitting from the economic empowerment program for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.

Dr. Mustafa confirmed that PIF continued to accumulate profits since its establishment to date. The total amount of accumulated profits reached US$ 1,069 billion dollars. PIF continue to make profit despite the current economic challenges in terms of banning travel that negatively affected the tourism sector, the closing of border crossings that had negative repercussions to the trade and industry sectors as well as others, particularly in terms of cement, and the regression in the performance of financial markets in general, which negatively impacted many companies and sectors.

Dr. Mustaf clarified that PIF implements, leads, and contributes to 60 investment programs and projects in vital sectors such as energy, health, real-estate, tourism, industry, trade, communications and infrastructure, as well as financing of small enterprises, among others.

According to Dr. Mustafa, PIF was able to realize prominent accomplishments during the year 2020. Under the energy sector, the Nour Jenin Solar Plant with a capacity of 5MW was opened and operationalized. Furthermore, installment of solar energy systems on the rooftops of approximately 120 schools throughout the different governorates was initiated under the Solar Energy Program for schools.

Under the health sector, the year marked the soft-opening of Ibn Sina hospital in Jenin governorate. PIF invests in the hospital alongside local partners. The ICU section dedicated to COVID-19 patients at the Istishari Arab hospital was expanded by 12 additional beds equipped with all necessary medical equipment including an oxygen generation device exclusive for this section. The total accommodation capacity rose to 36 beds. In the same context, the year marked the start of implementation of Al Istishari hospital for Cancer Treatment with an initial capacity of 160 beds, and an area of approximately 27,000 square meters.

Under the industrial sector, works started for the construction of a cement mill through Sanad company, with an estimated cost of US$85 million dollars. Once completed, the mill will be ale to produce approximately 1.1 million tons of cement annually, constituting almost 50% of the local demand on this strategic commodity.

As for the agricultural sector, PIF manages an investment portfolio for this sector by implement several vital projects. As such, PIF started the development of 362 dunums of agricultural lands located in the Jordan Valley under Al Dalyeh – Early Seedless Grape Farm project. 178 dunums of lands were already developed bringing the total planted area, upon completion of its development, to 540 dunums. Infrastructure works were initiated for Al Rabiyeh Factory for Animal Fodder in the Hebron governorate with a production capacity that exceeds 230,000 tons.

As for the financing of small enterprises, PIF launched at the outset of COVID-19 “Esnad” emergency program for supporting small and micro enterprises with a total amount of US$ 25 million dollars. Approximately 570 projects from all governorates, including Jerusalem and Gaza, benefitted from this program. More than US$9 million dollars were lent during the first and second phases of the program. 320 young men and women were trained in different specializations such as health, technology, engineering, and education under the development impact bonds program, under the development impact bonds program in which PIF invests in cooperation with local and international institutions.

The attention that PIF accords to Jerusalem and its economy, led the Fund to finance around 70 small businesses in Jerusalem in cooperation with international institutions such as the EU, with the aim of empowering small businesses and revitalizing their economic sectors.

The General Assembly discussed PIF Board of Director’s 2020 report. The members listened to the report of the auditor for the fiscal year that ended on 31/12/2020 and approved the balance sheets of PIF, which showed that profits made during 2020 amounted to US$10.4 million dollars prior to tax deduction. Net profit amounted to US$8.6 million dollars despite the current economic conditions, and thus the total amount of accumulated profits of PIF since its establishment rose to approximately US$1,069 billion dollars.
The PIF General Assembly consists of 30 members including members of the Board of Directors, from different sectors and specializations, involving several public and private institutions as well as civil society organizations representing the shareholders. General Assembly members are appointed by a decision from the President of the State of Palestine according to PIF by-laws.