ANKARA FORUM PROMOTES BUSINESS COOPERATION AMONG

UNCLAS ANKARA 002729

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: BEXP ECIN ECON ETRD IS PREL TU
SUBJECT: ANKARA FORUM PROMOTES BUSINESS COOPERATION AMONG
TURKEY, ISRAEL AND PALESTINE


1. (SBU) Summary: Turkey's Chamber of Commerce organized
the first meeting of Israeli, Palestinian and Turkish
business associations April 27 in Ankara, Turkey. In a joint
statement after the meeting, the three parties named the
initiative "the Ankara Forum for Palestine-Israel-Turkey
Economic Cooperation." Although the organizers purposely
excluded political issues from their discussions, they
announced their hope that the forum would contribute to the
peace process. They will meet again June 8 in Jerusalem.
End Summary.


2. (SBU) On April 27, Rifat Hisarciklioglu, president of the
Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB),
Shraga Brosh, president of the Manufacturers Association of
Israel, and Ahmad Al-Zogheir, chairman of the Palestinian
Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture headed their
respective business delegations to discuss ways the three
parties could promote economic cooperation through
business-to-business cooperation and reduce the obstacles to
economic development in Palestine. The forum was the
brainchild of Hisarciklioglu, who received support from
Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan and Foreign Minister Gul.
(Comment: The forum and other Middle East-related
initiatives by the Turkish Chamber suggest it is one of the
few non-governmental organizations in Turkey showing an
interest in Middle East issues. End Comment.) According to
TOBB International Affairs Advisor Mustafa Bayburtlu, the
idea remain stalled as long as Arafat remained in charge of
the Palestinian Authority.


3. (U) During the meeting, the three sides referred to a
November 2004 World Bank report, "Intifada: Closures and
Palestinian Economic Crisis: An Assessment," to identify
obstacles to economic development in Palestine and discuss
possible remedies. According to Bayburtlu, one idea
discussed at the forum was to jointly revitalize former
Israeli industrial parks in Gaza. After the meeting,
Hisarcikioglu announced that future meetings would focus on
cooperation in tourism, industry, infrastructure and
agriculture. Tourism seems to be one of the easier sectors
in which to develop tri-partite cooperation: the Israelis
and Palestinians were interested in Turkish tours coming to
both Israel and the Palestinian territories. Bayburtlu said
the forum would meet again June 8 in Jerusalem.
EDELMAN