Shtayyeh: Bethlehem is the capital of tourism in Palestine, and we will restore its economic health
Prime Minister Dr. Muhammad Shtayeh , opened a hotel and laid the foundation stone for four other hotels in the cities of Bethlehem and Beit Sahour, as part of the development plan with clusters, and considering Bethlehem Governorate as a tourist cluster.
The Prime Minister said, during the activities attended by the Governor of Bethlehem, Kamel Hamid, the Minister of Tourism, Rola Ma'ay'a, and a number of ministers, official and legal personalities: "We want Bethlehem to regain its economic recovery with its spiritual and national dimension and its Palestinian character, which we are all keen on."
He continued: "Today we place a new brick in a beautiful economic scene, in which we invest in what this province owns of Palestine's oil; it is not petroleum underground, but stems from the history, civilization and spirit of religion that radiated from it since 2020 years on the history of the world."
The Prime Minister continued: "This investment, worth $ 70 million, will provide about 1500 hotel rooms and hundreds of job opportunities. It is a message to the occupation that wanted to steal Bethlehem, by forging its history, that this city will remain true to its people and to our master Christ, from whom we have learned to work. For the sake of bread and income, but we also learned that "not by bread alone a person lives." The Palestinian sends a message of honor and dignity today that we will remain loyal to this land and we will remain its owners and salt.
And Shtayyeh added, "In 2019 this city and others sold 2.7 million hotel nights, thanks to the concerted efforts to revive this sector and a great effort from the security establishment that made Bethlehem a safe city for the tourist and its people in the first place."
The Prime Minister went on: "We had adopted the development strategy with clusters, as we divided Palestine into geographies, and we will see you on the competitive advantage of each geography in it, and the advantage of Bethlehem that it is the capital of tourism in Palestine." Shtayyeh saluted the Palestinian investors, stressing that experience has proven that capital in Palestine is national capital.
Shtayyeh added, “We will open the state’s lands and endowments for investment to investors who do not have land. This year will be the year of youth and caring for them, and we have also formed a fund of 500 million dollars, there are pledges of 216 million dollars, and the bank now has 57 million dollars to empower young people and do projects in partnership With the private sector, they participate and we will pay their shares to enhance their role. "
The Prime Minister stated: "After two days, we will announce at the" Davos "economic conference the establishment of a company with $ 100 million to support alternative electrical energy projects in Palestine.
Shtayyeh concluded: "We send a message to the world that the Christians of Palestine are not a community, a sect or a minority. Rather, they are a major component of the Palestinian people. They are present and will remain on this land. This is the president's message and we must preserve it all."