This article was originally published by Maan News and is republished with permission.

A Palestinian man samples food products at the Palestine Industries Exhibition in the West Bank city of Nablus. (Maan Images)

The second Palestinian Industries Exhibition opened on Saturday, August 9, at the Nablus municipality complex. It is the largest event to be held in Nablus in over eight years.

The exhibition will be attended by local government leaders as well as figures from the Arab world and international representatives from various consulates in the area. The exhibition will also feature representatives from 72 different Palestinian companies from all over the West Bank, and will last three days.

Deputy of the Chamber of Commerce of Nablus, Omer Hashem, said that the exhibition embodies the creativity and capability of Palestinians and highlights their ability to support high levels of production.

Relying on Palestinian national industries will help create job opportunities and help curb the levels of growing unemployment. He urged the Palestinian Authority (PA) to sort out an accreditation program for Palestinian goods. Palestinians, he added, should work on bettering the quality of their goods.

Israeli military checkpoints that surround Nablus are as strict as many international borders, Hashem said, making bringing goods into the area increasingly difficult.

Dr. Jamal Muheisin, the governor of Nablus and the representative of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the exhibition, said that "holding this exhibition in Nablus is the beginning of breaking the Israeli siege imposed on the area, giving Palestinian residents and investors the chance to get to know Palestinian national products."

Palestinian industry, he said, is one of the ways that the people can combat the siege, unemployment and poverty. "Economic growth, however," he added, "is necessarily related to security and politics."

Abed Al-Wahab A'bdeen, a representative of the Chamber of Commerce of Jordan said that "Jordan highly respects Palestinian industries, especially under these difficult circumstances." He added that Jordan has been increasing commercial exchange with Palestine in several sectors.

Ahmad Hashem Az-Zgheir, head of the Palestinian Union of the Chambers of Commerce, affirmed that holding this exhibition is a symbol of the rejuvenation of Nablus. The exhibition was held in Ramallah last year, and the city has seen an economic upturn. The 2009 exhibition will be held in Hebron.

Amar Al-E'ker, general manager of the Palestinian cellular phone service provider Jawwal, which was the official sponsor of the exhibition said that "the massage of Jawwal, is that all Palestinian companies can and should compete with their Israeli counterparts."

Al-E'ker said that on the one hand it is important to encourage national industry with legislations and exemptions, but that free competition means legitimacy for Palestinian companies. Jawaal itself competed with Israeli phone companies inside Palestinian cities, and said that competition with Israeli products only strengthens Palestinians products.