RAMALLAH, West Bank — As a businessperson, would you invest your money in the Gaza Strip under the current political and economic conditions? Farouk Shami did not hesitate to answer in the affirmative, stating, “I do not believe there are obstacles. Rather, there are challenges that we must all work to overcome, and Gaza is currently in dire need of our money.”
Shami, a Palestinian American businessman, led a three-day investors' conference that convened May 4 in Ramallah with the aim of attracting Palestinian business investments from abroad. Those assembled pledged $104 million for six projects in the West Bank, but no funds or projects were forthcoming for Gaza, which remains in need of reconstruction and economic recovery after the 2014 war with Israel.