Apple to expand R&D center in Palestinian city of Rawabi
Facility that opened in 2018 already employs 60 Palestinian engineers
Apple announced expansion plans for the US-based tech company's R&D center in the Palestinian city of Rawabi, Israeli business news site Globes reports.
The R&D center, which started operations in 2018, already employs 60 people at the West Bank facility under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority.
Apple's announcement followed a meeting between Johny Srouji, Apple's senior vice president of hardware technologies, and Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
Apple has hired the services of Ramallah-based development contractor ASAL Technologies that provides offshore teams for high-tech companies.
ASAL Technologies recruited the first five Palestinian engineers at the Rawabi R&D center in 2018. The 60 Palestinian engineers currently employed at the center work with Israeli teams in Herzliya and Haifa on tools and products for developing hardware technologies.
Rawabi is the first planned city built for and by Palestinians in the West Bank. Palestinian-American billionaire Bashar Masri, CEO of Massar International, developed the project in partnership with Qatar.
"We know that in order for substantial change to become sustainable, it must have business logic, so that locating talented employees in places like the Palestinian Authority, enlarges our network of quality engineers," Srouji said.