Head of the Industry Union to SadaNews: "We do not seek to separate the industrial and commercial chambers... but to restore our powers"

SadaNews - The head of the General Union of Palestinian Industries, Nassar Nassar, said in an interview with Sada News that "the union does not seek to separate the industrial and commercial chambers, but rather aims to obtain its full powers, due to the weak representation of industrialists as required in the current situation."

He continued: "We welcome cooperation with the industrial and commercial chambers, but each in its own specialty, stressing that "a trader cannot be an industrialist, as the trade sector is a consumer sector, while the industrial sector creates an economy within the homeland and provides job opportunities for the Palestinian people in the battle for survival on Palestinian land."

Nassar indicated that the laws regulating the work of industrial and commercial chambers in Palestine were originally derived from Jordanian law.

To view the full interview:

 

He pointed out that "the current unified law for commercial and industrial chambers does not take into account the specificity of the industrial sector and gives wide powers to traders at the expense of industrialists, which undermines industrialists' ability to defend their interests and organize themselves institutionally," explaining that "the union seeks to update industrial legislations in partnership with official bodies to ensure the empowerment of the national industry as a fundamental lever for the Palestinian economy."

Nassar expressed his openness to full cooperation with traders in a way that serves both sectors, for example, selling to traders of local Palestinian industries."

Nassar questioned how to employ the unemployed with investments outside of industry and agriculture, considering that this "sector rescues workers who have been prevented from entering the occupied territories of 1948, and others who lost their jobs due to the economic and political situation."

He also affirmed that "the demand to restore powers is not a personal or factional demand, but a national necessity aimed at enabling the industrial sector to play its role in enhancing local production and reducing reliance on imports, amid the significant challenges facing the Palestinian economy, foremost of which are Israeli restrictions and the constriction on freedom of movement and trade."

Read also: The Union of Commercial and Industrial Chambers holds an emergency meeting to discuss several issues

A statement was issued by the Union of Commercial and Industrial Chambers yesterday, in which participants affirmed the unity of the commercial and industrial chambers and their importance in supporting the national economy, delegating the head of the union to do everything necessary to preserve the existence of the commercial and industrial chambers and take appropriate decisions.

For more: The debate resurfaces... the proposal to separate commercial and industrial chambers back in the spotlight