Palestine's Trade With Middle Eastern Countries: Value of Palestinian Exports to Middle East Countries, Excluding Petroleum Products before 1948 (Nakba), British Mandate: A Survey of Palestine: Volume I - Page 486. Chapter XIII: Section 3

CHAPTER XIII.

Jewish labour and industry is highly organized and Arab labour and industry are also tending to a greater degree of coalescence, it should be practicable to resolve the problem of the cost of production and otherwise to re-adjust local industry to obtain a reasonable share of export trade. As has already been said, it is impracticable to assess the extent of that share in relation to present production or the speed at which the optimum can be achieved and maintained. It would be easy to be optimistic on the ground of Palestine's war-time success in industrialization; it would be equally easy to be pessimistic on the ground of Palestine's lack of a wide range of raw materials and the extent to which this increases the country's vulnerability to competition. One factor appears to be certain : geographically the Middle East is the obvious market for Palestine manufactures. In Palestine itself consumer demand is inadequate to support extensive industrialization. With the increase and spread of purchasing power to be anticipated from post war development throughout the Middle East area consumer demand over this wide area should be rapidly multiplied. There should thus be room for Palestine produce without detriment to that of other countries.

VALUE OF PALESTINIAN EXPORTS TO MIDDLE EAST COUNTRIES, EXCLUDING PETROLEUM PRODUCTS*, DURING THE YEARS 1931, 1933, 1939 AND 1942-1944.

Country of 1931 I 1933 I 1939 I 1942 I 1943 I 1944
destination
£P. £P. £P. £P. £P: £P.
Egypt 177,945 71,962 97,350 429,443 631,762 1,233,647
Syria 222,527 212,982 389,223 281,784 469,436 825,029
Iraq 761 5,393 5,498 103,603 489,029 383,639
Iran 22 80 403 19,594 145,671 667,757
Turkey 859 165 8,806 570,971 710,035 38,951
Arabia 1,584 1,027 2,287 368 2,180 37,273
Cyprus 3,346 3,812 14,384 70,600 217,047 352,833
Sudan 1,257 339 450 2,866 17,144 39,497
Trans-Jordan .. .. .. 198,003 550,635 603,536
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* Exports of petroleum products excluded from the above figures are as follows:-

1942

1943

1944

Cyprus 418,876 68,191 114,218
Egypt S,101,556 B,669,188 8,178,558
Iraq 195
Iran ats
Syria l,107,506 8'8,986 476,548
Turkey 487,797 759,762 719,617
Trans-Jordan {{,4.59 58,019 52,799 .,.. Figures for trade with Trans-Jordan were not compiled prior to 1941.

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