Identification and formulation of trade options for the West Bank and Gaza Strip (2019)

Bureau Leeters participated in a project to identify and formulate a trade program, aiming to support the Palestinian Authority with promoting West Bank and Gaza trade with EU markets The Office of the European Union Representative (West Bank & Gaza Strip, UNRWA) prepares the trade program, to be scheduled for 2021 and beyond. An international team, led by Jos Leeters, identified the most relevant value chains, partners and approaches and came up with recommendations to focus on the agri-food sector. Medjool dates top the list of potential commodities. The basket of dry groceries (spices, herbs, grains) comes second. Although strawberries and fresh herbs have limitations, due to the highly perishable nature, these commodities (with strawberries as a first priority) were  recommended by the team for Gaza in particular.

The identification project was conducted under the Framework Contract of the European Union (EUROPE AID), implemented under the management and guidance of COWI Belgium and with involvement of Project Planning & Management (PPM), Bulgaria;TYPSA (Spain), Expertise Advisors and Ecorys (the Netherlands).