The EC Director General for the Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations, Mr Gert Jan Koopman the Vice President of the European Investment Bank Gelsomina Vigliotti, with the  Palestinian Prime Minister, Dr Mohammad Mustafa launched the 6^th meeting of the European Union – Palestine Investment Platform. On the margins of the meeting, the EU, EIB, and the Palestinian authority signed a EUR 42 million agreement to construct the northeast Ramallah wastewater treatment plant.

The meeting of the European Union – Palestine Investment Platform was held at the Palestinian Prime Minister office and attended by representatives of Palestinian and European public institutions. The participants exchanged views to identify, prioritise, coordinate and promote investment opportunities by the various European instruments.

The European Union – Palestine Investment Platform (Platform) is a collaborative initiative between the EU and Palestine. It was established with the aim of fostering policy dialogue and investment. It serves as a platform to identify, prioritise, coordinate and promote investment opportunities offered by the EU External Investment Plan, together with its European Fund for Sustainable Development. A key objective of the Platform is to better attract investments into Palestine by mobilising additional public, institutional and private financing, contributing to Palestine’s policy and reform priorities.

On this occasion, the Palestinian Water Authority and the EU, together with the European Investment Bank (EIB), signed a EUR 42.2 million agreement of which around EUR 22.3 million are EU grant and EUR 19.9 million are a 30-year loan by the EIB. This project is a significant investment for the benefit of Northeast Ramallah citizens through improving sanitation and environmental protection in Palestine. The project includes the construction of a large scale wastewater treatment and a sewage network with a total length of more than 180 kilometres to increase direct sewage connections to 60,000 people living in 14 villages north-east of Ramallah. The whole project will be managed by the Palestinian Water Authority.