Decree

Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization
President of the Palestinian National Authority
By the authority vested in him
and in light of the requirements of national interest, and

with a view to improving the performance of the PNA and its administrative and financial institutions, and to reinforcing the principle of transparency, with all the benefits which that would entail; and in light of the highest priority that should be attached to improving the performance of the Palestinian economy on the road to the establishment of the independent Palestinian state, and in preparation for attaining that goal, especially through encouraging private domestic and foreign investment in Palestine and by fully elaborating a privatization strategy and adopting it as a national economic choice and as a part of a fully integrated vision, the following is hereby decreed:

First:  A Higher Council for Development, which is charged with promoting investment in Palestine and ensuring good revenue performance and sound revenue administration, as well as strengthening the public finance system, is hereby formed as follows:

Second:   In addition to other responsibilities that it may be assigned, the Council is charged with overseeing the full range of the revenues of the PNA and with taking the appropriate decisions and actions in this sphere. Specifically, the Council is charged with overseeing the operations of:

( a) The General Revenue Administration, which is the sole entity charged with managing all of the revenues of the PNA ( except the profits of the PNA' s commercial and investment institutions, operations, and activities ), and this Administration shall transfer those revenues to the single treasury account.

(b )The Palestinian Investment Fund, which is charged with managing all of the commercial and investment operations and activities of the PNA, under the direction of a board of directors to be appointed for this purpose. The management of this Fund shall issue all relevant information and annual fmancial reports covering the full range of the PNA's commercial and investment operations and activities, as audited by an internationally reputed audit firm, beginning with end-1998 fmancial statements.

( c ) The General Directorate for Loans, which is charged with managing all aspects of borrowing, domestic and foreign, including ensuring sound bookkeeping and repayment, on the basis of the guidance provided by the national Development Plan and in accordance with the policies set out by the Higher Council for Development.

Third:  The Higher Council for Development shall prepare a comprehensive privatization strategy no later than May 1,2000.

Fourth:  Effective immediately, the payroll unit in Gaza shall be moved from the General Civil Service Bureau to the Ministry of Finance.

  All parties concerned with the provisions and substance of this decree shall abide by it, and they shall provide the Higher Council for Development through its coordinator, with all the required information and fmancial statements no later than February 15, 2000. This decree goes into effect as of its date, and all concerned shall be so notified.

/ Signed /
Yasser Arafat

Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization
President of the Palestinian National Authority

Gaza, 10/1/2000