OPIC PRESSES WEST BANK HOUSING INITIATIVES AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L JERUSALEM 000067 SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/IPA AND EEB; PASS NSC FOR KUMAR, OPIC FOR DRUMHELLER AND TDA FOR KRESS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/14/2020 TAGS: ECON EINV EFIN EAID OPIC KWBG IS SUBJECT: OPIC PRESSES WEST BANK HOUSING INITIATIVES AND LOAN GUARANTEE PROGRAMS IN WEST BANK, BACKS MICROFINANCE PROGRAM IN ISRAEL REF: 09 JERUSALEM 1800 Classified By: CG Daniel Rubinstein, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (SBU) Summary: An Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) delegation visited Jerusalem and Ramallah January 5-7 to prepare for the February launch of the West Bank-based Affordable Mortgage and Lending Corporation (AMAL),attend the launch of a small business loan guarantee program aimed at the Negev and Gilboa regions of Israel, and follow up on the Gaza loan guarantee fund. To ensure that the residential development projects underway in the West Bank will meet the target market for AMAL's loans (reftel),donors will need to fund on and off-site infrastructure. Two large development projects, Al Reehan and Rawabi, have broken ground and expect to have homes ready for purchase by Palestinians by late 2010 and mid 2011, respectively. End Summary. AMAL Ready to Launch -------------- ¶2. (C) OPIC Vice President Robert Drumheller visited Ramallah and Jerusalem January 5-7. In a meeting with Palestinian Authority (PA) Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, Drumheller noted that AMAL would be ready to launch in February, and would be a signal of progress to investors, banks, and potential homebuyers that a number of the announced housing initiatives were now producing results. Fayyad agreed to work with his staff to ensure that OPIC receives the necessary tax exempt status so that AMAL could proceed. He also stressed that he is working to eliminate loopholes in income tax collection, in order to build up the PA's tax base and boost PA revenues. Note: Post has subsequently received a draft letter from the PA, and has shared it with OPIC. End note. ¶3. (C) Drumheller stressed that the projects would require PA support, particularly regarding their public infrastructure needs, and that the USG wants to work with the PA to secure international donor support. Fayyad noted that affordable housing remained a priority for the PA and that he would support efforts to secure funding for infrastructure, although not at the expense of budget support. Rawabi Breaks Ground; Infrastructure Assistance Pending -------------- -------------- ¶4. (C) The Rawabi housing initiative, a new Palestinian town to be built north of Ramallah, officially broke ground on January 4. Construction is scheduled to begin in April, and Bayti CEO Bashar Masri said he hopes to lay the cornerstone during the PA's May investment conference in Bethlehem. Although Masri does not yet have resolution on the issue of gaining permission for a new access road to Rawabi through Area C, he said he intends to start construction of the road from the north and has been told that the conversion of the land from Area C to Area B may be part of an "Area C package" that the GOI would offer to the PA. He said he hoped he could begin work on the road with the USD 5 million pledge from USAID (he estimates the total cost to be USD 15 million, and expects the project to take a year). Bayti has delivered on its promise to work with local companies, issuing USD 20 million in contracts to date and with another USD 10-15 million in the coming weeks, according to Masri. ¶5. (SBU) While two of the largest housing projects (Bayti's Rawabi and the Palestine Investment Fund's (PIF) Al Reehan) have broken ground, the success -- and affordability -- of these and smaller projects remains dependent on delivery of infrastructure assistance in 2010. Minister of National Economy Hasan Abu-Libdeh stressed that developers should work with the Ministry of Planning to ensure that infrastructure needs for key housing projects are included in the PA's list of priority projects for 2010 (as Rawabi and Al Reehan reportedly are),a message that OPIC passed on in its meetings with developers. Both Abu-Libdeh and Fayyad noted that the mechanism for delivering assistance was not an obstacle if donors wanted to fund the projects. ¶6. (C) Abdel Mughni Nofal, Director General of the Municipal Development and Lending Fund (MDLF),said that the Fund could be a mechanism for delivery of assistance to housing projects outside of municipalities if donors earmark their funds and if the projects are proposed by "joint service councils." Note: The joint service councils are a new MDLF initiative that brings a cluster of village councils together into one body. It would likely take time and additional funding to set-up and operationalize these councils in areas where new developments are in progress. End note. OPIC Backs Microfinance Program in Israel -------------- ¶7. (U) Israeli President Peres hosted an event at his residence on January 7 to celebrate the launch -- after nearly two years of negotiations -- of OPIC's local currency guarantee to Bank Leumi in support of the small business loan program run by Israeli NGO Koret Israel Economic Development Funds (KIEDF). KIEDF has run a microfinance program in the Negev since 1996, but the OPIC guarantee of USD 10 million in local currency will support increased lending to Jewish and Israeli-Arab borrowers. This translates into approximately USD 140 million in additional lending capacity and is expected to contribute to the creation of at least 7,000 new jobs in economically challenged parts of Israel. In addition to supporting additional financing and small business development in the Negev, the guarantee will allow the expansion of the program to the West Bank border region of Gilboa, which is developing grassroots business ties with the Jenin region of the West Bank, adding an economic peace and cooperation element to the KIEDF program. Ambassador Cunningham represented the USG at this event, and was joined by Robert Drumheller; KIEDF and Bank Leumi were represented at the highest levels, and donors and press were also present. West Bank/Gaza Loan Guarantee Fund -------------- ¶8. (C) Drumheller met with CHF International/Loan Guarantee Fund General Manager Rami Khoury to discuss the Loan Guarantee Fund, which CHF administers in the West Bank and Gaza. Of note, Khoury said that CHF is currently processing the USD 5 million loan application from the Movenpick Hotel in Ramallah. He also said that CHF is looking at expanding the program to microfinance (loans less than USD 5,000) and to projects in East Jerusalem. CHF has received one application for Gaza and will proceed with the required due diligence, once "the dust settles in Gaza" following Hamas's recent stop-work order on CHF, according to Khoury. Khoury stressed that the loan applicants were counting on the USG to work with the GOI to ensure that goods for which the loans were intended were permitted into Gaza. ¶9. (U) This message was coordinated with Embassy Tel Aviv. OPIC cleared this message. RUBINSTEIN