The Palestinian Authority will seek around $5 billion in foreign aid over the next three years as it seeks to build state institutions, a report by prime minister Salam Fayyad said on Wednesday.
Fayyad said the talks in Brussels where the report was tabled "effectively recognised the reality of a state of Palestine". Al Jazeera English reported his comments that UN endorsement of his administration's readiness to govern was effectively a 'birth certificate' for a Palestinian state.
The UN report assessed that the PA's functioninig was "sufficient for a functioning government of a state".
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
The document tabled in Brussels, a three-year plan for Palestinian state-building, is part of a package being submitted to representatives of foreign donor nations who are meeting Fayyad and other Palestinian officials in Brussels.
Donors at the meeting backed
The report says the Palestinian Authority expects to seek US$1.467 billion (AU$1.3991.013 billion euros) in external support this year, $1.754 billion (1.211 billion euros) in 2012, and $1.596 billion (1.102 billion euros) in 2013.
"Tax and clearance revenues, driven upwards by private sector-led economic growth and improved revenue administration, will progressively reduce our reliance on external aid," the report says.
"The next three years will witness a transformation in the nature of external aid from 'life support' to real investment in the future of Palestine," it adds.
The report comes as the Palestinians seek to win support for a unilateral declaration of statehood, as peace talks with Israel remain stalled.
Fayyad has said he expects the Palestinian Authority to be ready for statehood by September, when Palestinian officials have said they may seek United Nations General Assembly recognition.
Largely 'ready to govern'
On Tuesday, the office of the United Nations special coordinator for the Middle East peace process said the authority was now largely ready to govern a state.
"In six areas where the UN is most engaged, governmental functions are now sufficient for a functioning government of a state," the office said in a report prepared for the Brussels donor meeting.
In a foreword to the report, Fayyad struck an optimistic note about progress towards the creation of a Palestinian state, despite a deadlock in talks with Israel, which ground to a halt last year in the face of continued Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank.
The Palestinians have refused to hold talks while Israel builds on land they want for their future state, and Israel has declined to renew a building ban that expired shortly after peace talks were relaunched in September 2010.
"There is now real momentum towards establishing Palestine in 2011," Fayyad wrote. "It is critical that this momentum is not lost."
