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The Lord Mayor of the City of London Visits Rawabi

2011-07-05

Rawabi; July 5th 2011- Today, The Lord Mayor of the City of London, Alderman Michael Bear, visited Rawabi- the first Palestinian planned city, accompanied by the British Consul General Sir Vincent Fean and a delegation made up of British businesspeople. The delegation was welcomed by Mr. Bashar Masri CEO of Bayti Real Estate Investment Company – the developer of Rawabi - along with other managers of the company.  The visit offered the delegation a first-hand look at the Rawabi project, the largest project ever in the Palestinian private sector, and to discuss what role London can take to support Rawabi and to encourage British private sector partnership with the Palestinian private sector, in order to accelerate the development process of Rawabi. The delegation toured the city and heard a detailed presentation on the economic impact of this ambitious project, which will create thousands of job opportunities and provide thousands of housing units for middle-income Palestinian families. The delegation also learned about the challenges facing the project due to the Israeli occupation.  The Lord Mayor expressed his high admiration for the abilities of the Palestinian private sector to take the initiative and progress with this large Rawabi project. “It is a visionary project, which invests in the future, creates vital jobs and contribute in achieving economic prosperity,” he said. Bashar Masri, CEO of Bayti Real Estate Investment Company, expressed his delight and appreciation for the visit of the Mayor, both to Palestine and to Rawabi, which demonstrates the importance of developing economic cooperation between the U.K. and Palestine, while also offering those engaged with Rawabi the benefit of international experiences in building and developing Palestine. Rawabi is being developed by Bayti Real Estate Investment Company, jointly owned by Qatari Government-owned Qatari Diar and Massar International. Rawabi will provide more than 5000 housing units, will accommodate 25,000 people in the first stages, and more than 40000 people when completed.