The Mayor welcomed the visited delegation and made a discussion on Hebron, its geography and history, the Old City and the suffering of inhabitants due to occupation measures and practices, the closing down of Al-Shuhada' Street well as the Old City markets under the pretext of protecting settlers that led to a really economic disruption in the southern area of Hebron.

 

Dr. Zatari then described the economic and commercial importance of Hebron as well as its traditional industries and local products. He underlined efforts made by Hebron Municipality to support the local economy and infrastructure and to implement the IT Techno Park as it serves the public interest of Hebron, calling the visited delegation to embrace the Palestinians' creative talents through holding executive training programs in cooperation with Hebron Municipality.

 

Thereafter, Dr. Zatari referred to Hebron's residents' other suffering as a result of water crisis and ed quantities of water allocated to the city by the PWA which will cause severe water shortages in summer time due to the Israeli Occupation dominance on Water resources, mentioning the high cost of the electrical energy supplied by the Israel Electric Company. He then commended the delegation for their visit to Hebron.

 

On his part, Mr. Zaiser thanked the mayor for the warm reception and hospitality and spoke on projects provided by USAID to Palestine's various sectors. "The reality of what is going on the ground is quite different from the media". He added.

 

Many suggested mechanisms aimed at promoting the Palestinian Economy and at curbing the unemployment were also discussed by the two parties.

By the end of the meeting, the Municipal Strategic plan adopted by Hebron Municipality was displayed.