Organic Palestinian Dead Sea salt The local partner is a Dead Sea salt producer that has the Palestinian Territory as his market, while the applicant sells table salt in the Middle East and is looking for new sources for his supplies.The refinery is based in a military zone north of the Dead Sea on the West Bank, with an Israeli Defence Force base at 200 m distance. The packaging facility will be located in Jericho 14 km from the refinery.The applicant Hisham Younis and Partners Co (2005) is a marketing, distribution and sales company for raw Dead Sea salt, iodised table salt, bath salt and Dead Sea mud products. The local partner is West Bank Salt Works Ltd. (1967), they produce bulk iodised table salt, packed in 25 kg units for the local intermediary Palestinian market.The partners will set up a joint venture.The project will upgrade and professionalise the refinery firstly to renew outdated equipment and secondly to become organic, ISO and HACCP certified in order to be able to enter new, high quality table salt markets. In addition, they will establish a packaging facility to supply consumer products that will meet the demands of the international high-end consumer markets. This will make it possible to export to the Middle East (Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and the Gulf States), the US and the EU.Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)CSR is anchored in the project through ISO, HACCP and organic certification. They aim to minimise the impact on the environment. In addition, they will comply with the principles of the Ethical Trading Initiative on employment conditions like living wages, working hours, et cetera.They will emphasise health and safety on the work floor. They do not intend to set up a separate CSR policy for the joint venture.Impact•	Employment and working conditionsAt the end of the project a total of 18 new staff – 11 basic-level and 7 medium-/high-level staff – will be full-time employed.Together with the 10 present staff in the refinery, the total number of employees will amount to 28.This will be a total of 46 two years after the project, including 36 new employees – 20 basic-level and 16 medium-/high-level – and 10 employees that already are employed at this moment.Of the 18 new staff, 5 will be needed additionally for the refinery and 13 for the packaging.The partners will develop a HRM policy in accordance with international standards and Palestinian Labour Law, and will include: health care insurance, five-day working week, free lunches, transport to and from the factory and financial support for studying children.•	Innovation / Transfer of knowledgeMost of the knowledge on ISO/ HACCP/ organic production is not entirely new to the country but certainly insufficiently available in the country.•	Chain effectsThe project has no direct chain effects as the main raw material will be produced by the local partner themselves.•	EnvironmentThe partners are committed to reduce the impact of their activities on the environment, and are committed to organic production methods. They apply a completely natural salt extraction and refining process, no chemicals are used during the extraction and refinery processes. Water used during the process is transported back to the Dead Sea and waste salt is supplied as an input to leather companies. According to Palestinian law the partners are obliged to submit an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).•	Position of womenAt least 25% of employees will be female for functions of secretary (medium-level), bookkeeper (medium-level), and operators (basic-level). There are no female managers (high-level) proposed. Upgrade of an existing salt refinery plant to an organic, ISO and HACCP certified unit to produce 3,400 tons of salt annually at the end of the project and, additionally, to establish a packaging facility for the organic consumer salt for export to the Mi