Khaled Osaily. خالد العسيلي رئيس بلدية الخيل السابق خالد العسيلي
Mayor Khaled Osaily received at Hebron Municipality a delegation comprising businessmen from Russia representing the Russian-Palestinian Business Council as well as a number of officials from the Russian Embassy. The delegation, which had met earlier with President Abbas, toured the Palestinian territories to discuss means to enhance commercial cooperation between Palestine and Russia.
Mayor Osaily welcomed the visiting delegation and explained to its members the economic situation in Hebron which is an import center and the Governorate with the highest rate of industrial and commercial activities. Palestinians, he said, are keen on maintaining good relations with Russia, look forward to establishing long-term common projects and are proud of Russian-Palestinian cooperation throughout the years. “By enhancing economic cooperation between the Russian and Palestinian peoples we are participating in enhancing Russian-Palestinian relations”, he added. Mayor Osaily proposed the creation of a delegation comprising Palestinian businessmen to communicate with their homologues from Russia and to exchange visits in the future.
Mr. Alexander Nitshobork, President of the Russian-Palestinian Business Council (RPBC), expressed his joy at this visit to Palestine and at the creation of the RPBC. “This visit has left a good impression as to the situation in Palestine. We have felt that Palestinian businessmen are serious about enhancing cooperation and commercial relations and that there is a clear political will to this end, which materialized in the draft joint commercial agreement between Russia and Palestine”, he said. RPBC President hoped for a rapid implementation of this agreement in the fields of tourism and agricultural relations, adding that the aim of the visit was to “discuss with Palestinian businessmen means to enhance joint actions and to present new ideas by Russian and Palestinian businessmen for future projects”.
At the end of the meeting, a number of Palestinian businessmen from Hebron joined the group and made detailed presentations about the nature of their companies. They expressed their readiness to develop activities with Russia and to enhance cooperation with this country. They also commended the Mayor’s proposal to establish a delegation comprising Russian and Palestinian businessmen with a view to exchanging visits and exploring windows for common action. Amongst the issues discussed were means to facilitate the import of raw materials and equipment from Russia and to export Palestinian goods to it. A description of obstacles faced by businessmen who imported products from Russia in the past was also presented.
RPBC’s President underlined the importance of communicating with both the Russian Embassy and RPBC to help overcome future obstacles and problems. He praised the primordial role played by Hebron’s Mayor who has prepared the ground and facilitated contacts between the Russian Embassy, Palestinian businessmen and RPBC.
At the end of the meeting, the visiting delegation thanked Hebron’s Mayor for the warm reception and presented to him a symbolic gift.
