Its size is $10 million

The PMA and the Palestinian Employment Fund launched the “Start Now” program for financing small and micro enterprises. The program, with a total size of 10 million USD, enables project owners to obtain financing of up to USD 10,000 without interest, with a repayment period of up to 48 months and a grace period of up to 12 months.

The launch event took place at the headquarters of the PMA in Ramallah, in the presence of Dr. Feras Milhem, the PMA Governor, Dr. Nasri Abu Jish, the Minister of Labor, Mr. Mohammed Manasrah, the Deputy Governor of the PMA, Mr. Rami Mahdawi, the Executive Director of the Palestinian Employment Fund, and several officials from both sides.

During his speech at the launch event, Dr. Milhem expressed his satisfaction with the partnership with the Palestinian Employment Fund in launching this program, which is dedicated to entrepreneurial ideas and small and micro-enterprises owned, managed, or desired to be established by women, persons with disabilities, graduates of vocational and technical education and training.

Dr. Milhem emphasized the PMA's commitment to supporting projects of various forms and facilitating their access to financing sources. He explained that the launch of the "Start Now" program comes as part of the PMA's efforts and strategy to provide new financing programs for various economic sectors. He noted that within the framework of efforts to achieve sustainable economic development and improve living standards, the PMA works to meet the needs of small, micro, and medium-sized enterprises and to transfer them from the informal to the formal market.

He also highlighted the role of the "Estidama" fund in supporting approximately 2800 projects so far, with a financial coverage of about USD 150 million, as well as enhancing the capacities of project owners through training and consultations provided by the "Monshati" platform to facilitate their access to financing sources.

In his remarks, Dr. Abu Jish, the Minister of Labor and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Palestinian Employment Fund, explained that the "Start Now" program is a continuation of an integrated series of financing projects and technical activities that have been and are still being implemented through the "Start-up Palestine" program executed by the Fund nationwide since 2016, funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS).

He stated that the program has provided funding for more than 3500 beneficiaries, created over 5000 job opportunities, and provided technical support to more than 2500 individuals.

Dr. Abu Jish emphasized the importance of cooperation between various institutions and the establishment of partnerships to achieve integration of efforts and support the role of the Palestinian Employment Fund in achieving the objectives of the strategic plan and the national employment plan, aimed at reducing unemployment rates, alleviating poverty, and overcoming the dominance of the occupation, which seeks to destroy the Palestinian economy.

He stressed that financing projects represent a constructive intervention to support the trend towards self-employment and entrepreneurship, which is considered the optimal solution for several problems in Palestine, particularly unemployment resulting from the occupation's tight control over our various resources.

Dr. Abu Jish further explained that the Palestinian Employment Fund and the Ministry of Labor attach great importance to marginalized and disadvantaged groups, which have been taken into consideration in the program launched today, targeting entrepreneurs and project owners from women, persons with disabilities, and graduates of vocational and technical training centres, to assist them in establishing their own projects or developing their existing ones.

It is worth mentioning that the participating banks in the program are Quds Bank, Bank of Palestine, Arab Islamic Bank, Housing Bank, Safa Bank, and Jordan Ahli Bank, under the terms and features of the program. Application for financing is made through the "Monshati" platform and the Ministry of Labor offices spread across various provinces.