About Us
The Portland Trust was founded in London in 2003 by Sir Ronald Cohen, founder of the Private Equity firm Apax
Partners, and Sir Harry Solomon, co-founder and former chairman and CEO of Hillsdown Holdings. David Freud,
former vice chairman of UBS Investment Banking, is the chief executive and the third trustee. The historian Sir
Martin Gilbert is the fourth trustee.
The Portland Trust is a private British foundation committed to encouraging peace and stability between
Palestinians and Israelis through economic development. It promotes initiatives to develop the private sector,
particularly in the Palestinian Territory. The core approach is to identify particular bottle-necks in the economy
and to apply appropriate expertise to develop solutions. The problems identifi ed are often complicated by issues
of security and require the mobilisation of international resources. Once a solution has been
developed,
The
Portland Trust works to implement the initiative. This can involve obtaining the support and commitment of the
relevant parties, identifying appropriate sponsors and mobilizing the necessary funds.
The Portland Trust focuses primarily on three strands of private sector development: financial infrastructure,
physical infrastructure and facilitation of trade. At any one time, The Portland Trust aims to promote a number of
initiatives, many of which will yield fruit only over the long term. The Trust also publishes a monthly bulletin on the
Palestinian Economy as well as occasional strategic analysis of topical issues, aimed at establishing a context
in which decisions can be taken by parties involved in Middle East issues.
In June 2005 The Portland Trust opened an office in Tel-Aviv. Eival Gilady is the Managing Director. In April 2006,
an office was opened in Ramallah under the direction of Samir Hulileh.
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