Ms. Baboun welcomed the guests and thanked the Italian municipalities for their great efforts in the development of the city of Bethlehem through a series of vital projects.  Dr. Araj praised this in his speech and conveyed the greetings of President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Dr. Rami Hamadallah to the Italian government, which permanently seeks to develop different areas in Palestine. The Head of the Projects Department at the municipality Eng. Ziad Sayeh, presented a detailed explanation of the nature of the projects and their impact. In turn, the Italian Consul stressed the importance of the results that have been reached by the PMSP, and its enormous role in serving various sectors and municipalities, and emphasized on the Syriac Hosh Rehabilitation project which he described as exceptional and that it will contribute to attracting tourists to live in the Palestinian experience.

It is noteworthy that the projects launched are: Syriac Hosh Rehabilitation Project, where the Bethlehem Municipality and under the technical supervision of the Centre for Cultural Heritage Preservation “CCHP” rehabilitated the building to be used as a Guest House with a grant amounting to (447,410) Euros. In 2014 the Bethlehem Municipality furnished the building and deliver it to the FIA Ethos Foundation after it won the bid to run it.

Beautification of the Commercial Centre in Bethlehem – John Paul VI Street Project (Al-Madbaseh), which aims to create comfortable, encouraging and safe environment to the citizens through the rehabilitation of infrastructure, organizing the vehicles movement and create suitable and appropriate passages to pedestrian, with a total amount of (724,152) Euros.

Capacity building / Ice Cream Factory Project, implemented in cooperation with the John Paul II Foundation in order to create job opportunities and imporove the economical situation with a budget of (80,500) Euros. In addition to the Italian Pastries Oven, which amounted to the value of (187,000) Euros.

Strengthen the Capacities of Municipal Departments Project, which began in 2012 to target the various municipal departments staff.  Municipal staff participated in a number of specialized workshops to carry out their duties efficiently.  Through this project the municipal departments were provided with desktop devices, and necessary machines and equipments for the work of the Department of Engineering and Public Works Department, with an amount of (554,470) Euros.

This celebration was followed by a visit to the sites and cutting the ribbon, to observe closely at the projects and what they added to the city of Bethlehem, and a reception at the Guest House of the Syriac Hosh.