USAID COMPETE QUARTERLY REPORT, OCTOBER 1 – DECEMBER 31, 2016

The project has entered its sixth year of implementation, with an extended period of performance from the original end date of November 29, 2016, to a new end date of November 29, 2017. During the past quarter, the project reviewed its accomplishments over the first five years and formulated a work plan for Year 6, which was submitted to USAID for review. The project has supported 892 firms, farms, individuals, and cooperatives to date, with 678 from the West Bank and 214 from Gaza. In the West Bank, the project worked with the agribusiness sector to secure achievements and move forward with support towards achievements made in the first five years. Technical assistance was provided through the Firm Level Assistance Program, with companies such as Haifa Company benefiting from a new production line launched this quarter, enabling it to package dates and other products in high-quality packaging. The project also supported the baby cucumber subsector, which saw 398 tons of product sorted, shipped, and sold to pickling companies. The strawberry scalability program resulted in positive yields for participating farmers, with 28 tons sold. The project is also supporting the grape subsector, having designed and announced a program to improve competitiveness and address market failures. Over 799 individuals have applied to the grape program, covering a total of 280 dunums of land, with 190 farmers benefiting from new hanging systems installed on more than 600 dunums of land. In the ICT sector, the Palestinian Internship Program has completed its fourth cycle of placing interns within high-tech companies. The project, in coordination with the Office of the Quartet and Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunications (MITT), will support a group of apprentices to be placed in companies after completing a two-month long SAP training. The training of fresh graduates took place from the end of November until the end of January 2017. Another SAP-related activity took place during November 2016, with a SAP Big Data training taking place in Amman, Jordan, introducing Palestinian and Jordanian startups to Big Data technology and SAP's platform named HANA. The project has also seen significant achievements in the private sector investments, with $96.6 million leveraged in firm-level support. The project has also trained 178 persons in Quarter 1 of Year 6 and supported more than 600 dunums of land with hanging systems for grapes. In Gaza, the project has exported 825 kilos of high-value fresh herbs. The eGov initiative was launched this quarter to enhance government services. The project has also seen significant progress in the agribusiness sector, with the baby cucumber subsector growing and three clusters in formation, made up of farmers who have applied for support from the project. The strawberry scalability program has resulted in positive yields for participating farmers, with 28 tons sold. The project is also supporting the grape subsector, having designed and announced a program to improve competitiveness and address market failures. The project has also seen significant progress in the ICT sector, with the Palestinian Internship Program completing its fourth cycle of placing interns within high-tech companies. The project, in coordination with the Office of the Quartet and Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunications (MITT), will support a group of apprentices to be placed in companies after completing a two-month long SAP training. The training of fresh graduates took place from the end of November until the end of January 2017.