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US-Saudi Business Council Organizes Promoting Opportunities in Saudi Arabia Conference

The Saudi flag. Asharq Al-Awsat
The Saudi flag. Asharq Al-Awsat
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US-Saudi Business Council Organizes Promoting Opportunities in Saudi Arabia Conference

The Saudi flag. Asharq Al-Awsat
The Saudi flag. Asharq Al-Awsat

The US-Saudi Business Council will organize on Monday a conference to promote economic opportunities in the Kingdom in New Orleans in partnership with KN Legal.

Speakers from Saudi Aramco, the US-Saudi Arabia Business Council, KN Legal as well as representatives of the US Export Assistance Center in New Orleans and the Lafayette Economic Development Commission will present important data and assistance resources for companies interested in entering or expanding their businesses in the Saudi market.

The conference will also see the participation of a number of experts and speakers to get a general overview of the available opportunities for American companies in Saudi Arabia in the oil and gas projects and the new opportunities generated from the mega economic diversification strategy of the Saudi Vision 2030.

The conference will highlight the efforts of the Saudi leadership in encouraging international participation in this fast-moving economy, such as economic, trade and regulatory reforms to improve the transparency and predictability of the Saudi business environment.

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Washington Urges Israel to Extend Cooperation with Palestinian Banks

A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
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Washington Urges Israel to Extend Cooperation with Palestinian Banks

A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)

The United States on Thursday called on Israel to extend its cooperation with Palestinian banks for another year, to avoid blocking vital transactions in the occupied West Bank.

"I am glad that Israel has allowed its banks to continue cooperating with Palestinian banks, but I remain convinced that a one-year extension of the waiver to facilitate this cooperation is needed," US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Thursday, on the sidelines of a meeting of G20 finance ministers in Rio de Janeiro.

In May, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich threatened to cut off a vital banking channel between Israel and the West Bank in response to three European countries recognizing the State of Palestine.

On June 30, however, Smotrich extended a waiver that allows cooperation between Israel's banking system and Palestinian banks in the occupied West Bank for four months, according to Israeli media, according to AFP.

The Times of Israel newspaper reported that the decision on the waiver was made at a cabinet meeting in a "move that saw Israel legalize several West Bank settlement outposts."

The waiver was due to expire at the end of June, and the extension permitted Israeli banks to process payments for salaries and services to the Palestinian Authority in shekels, averting a blow to a Palestinian economy already devastated by the war in Gaza.

The Israeli threat raised serious concerns in the United States, which said at the time it feared "a humanitarian crisis" if banking ties were cut.

According to Washington, these banking channels are key to nearly $8 billion of imports from Israel to the West Bank, including electricity, water, fuel and food.