Communicated by the Foreign Ministry Spokesman Jerusalem, August 20, 1997 20 Palestinians Complete Foreign Ministry Mashav Course On August 21, a ceremony will be held for 20 Palestinian trainees from a number of PA ministries who have completed a course on "Entrepreneurship and Small Businesses". This course, sponsored by MASHAV (the Foreign Ministry's Center for International Cooperation) took place at the Golda Meir Carmel Center in Haifa in conjunction with the Jewish-Arab Economic Development Center and the Palestinian Professional Training Association. The course is run by the staff of the Carmel Center, a training center in the fields of community development, education, and women's issues. The ceremony will take place at the Carmel Center in the presence of Foreign Ministry Deputy Director-General for MASHAV, Mr. Haim Divon, and Mayor of Haifa, Mr. Amram Mitzna. Deputy Director-General Haim Divon noted: "Cooperation between Israel and the Palestinian Authority through MASHAV has become increasingly close, and there is a readiness on both sides to consider expanding the cooperation into new areas". In the first seven months of this year, 370 Palestinians have participated in MASHAV-sponsored courses. This is a significant increase over 1996. In addition, new courses are being planned this year, several of which have already been implemented. The new courses span various fields: Agriculture (8 courses for 200 students); Health; Education; Environment and Tourism (8 courses for 240 participants); Leadership and Community Work; Rural Development; Small Business Management and others. 1997 has marked a turning point in the training of Palestinians in terms of the scope, the variety of topics covered and the number of branches involved. In 1996, some 280 Palestinians were trained in two MASHAV branches, in the areas of Agriculture and Health Systems Management. This year, about 370 Palestinian students have participated in courses in seven MASHAV branches, and several new fields have been added: Economic Development, Volunteer Organization Management, Young Leadership, Tourism and Environmental Protection.