Palestinians in Gaza are looking forward to thedonors conferencefor Gazas reconstruction, scheduled Oct. 12 in Cairo at the invitation of Egypt and Norway and under the auspices of Palestinian PresidentMahmoud Abbas. The conference will be attended by representatives of countries all over the world, as well as businessmen and local and global organizations.The donor conference has spawned acompetitionbetween businessmen and companies for contracts toreconstruct the Gaza Strip.
An economic official in Gaza toldAl-Monitor, Preparations are in full swing to [compete over] the largest share of the expected construction projects to follow the conference. This is done through communication with the related international bodies [the United Nations Relief and Works Agency] and the [United Nations Development Program] in particular and in coordination with the Palestinian government of national consensus, which is supervising all of thereconstruction projects.
A senior Palestinian minister who asked not to be named told Al-Monitor aboutrapid developments secretly taking place in preparation for the reconstruction of Gaza," saying, "Some economic institutions want to get the lion's share of the funds allocated to this reconstruction. So they market themselves to the donor countries both Arab and Western and demonstrate their ability to implement reconstruction projects in compliance with international standards.