"Under the CEAFAM, we want to pull together resources and expertise from the CEAPAD participating countries' governments, development institutions, as well as private and civil-society entities, to advance the socio-economic development of Palestinia
Jakarta (Antara News) - The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and Palestine have signed the CEAPAD Facilitation Mechanism to support self-efforts by Palestinians.

JICAs Senior Special Officer Kunio Okamura, IDBs President Ahmad Mohammed Ali Al-Madani and Palestines Minister of State Planning and Development Mohammed Abu Ramadan signed the CEAPAD Facilitation Mechanism (CEAFAM) as one of the outcomes of the meeting, Cooperation Among East Asian Countries for Palestinian Development (CEAPAD) II, here on Saturday.

CEAFAM was funded by the Japanese Government, IDB, and East Asian countries to support development of agriculture, tourism, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), and light manufacturing, with technical assistance being provided by JICA.

JICAs spokesman Kotaro Tanaka said JICA and Japan will run parallel funding of those sectors, as well as boosting socio-economic recovery and capacity development in the public, social and private sectors.

"Under the CEAFAM, we want to pull together resources and expertise from the CEAPAD participating countries' governments, development institutions, as well as private and civil-society entities, to advance the socio-economic development of Palestinians," he said.

CEAFAM will administer all aspects of financial management, and assist partners to design and implement selected projects in close coordination with Palestines Ministry of Planning and Development, local communities and donor partners.

Previously, during the opening event, Japans Minister of Foreign Affairs, Fumio Kishida, stated that the Japanese Government had provided US 1.38 billions dollars since the Oslo Accord in 1993 for assistance to Palestinians to help in development of a governing system and to improve the livelihoods of men, women and children.

CEAPAD II was hosted by Indonesia and saw 27 delegations participating from East Asian countries and international organizations. Indonesia, Japan and Palestine were the co-chairs of this conference. ***1***
(T.A060/A/KR-BSR/A014) 01-03-2014 16:45:32

Reporter: Azi Fitriyanti
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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