Israel and the Palestinian Authority renewed meetings of their Joint Economic Committee following a seven-year hiatus late Tuesday, a week before US President George W. Bush visits the region in a push to accelerate peace talks.

"This is an important step in building relations," Finance Ministry Director-General Yarom Ariav said in a statement Wednesday. "Economic growth is a lever for strengthening the connection between Israel and the Palestinian Authority."

Ariav and PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad will head the renewed committee, which held its first meeting last night in Jerusalem, the ministry said. The Joint Economic Committee was set up under the 1995 Paris Agreement. Cooperation ended following the outbreak of the Second Intifada against Israel in September 2000.

Bush's trip aims to push forward talks that began two months ago in Annapolis, Maryland. The negotiations are meant to culminate in the establishment of a Palestinian state.

In the days leading up to the November conference, manufacturing leaders from both Israel and the PA called on their respective governments to discuss the reopening of the Paris Trade Protocols and the re-establishment of the Israel-PA Economic Forum at the negotiating tables of Annapolis.

The Paris agreements, originally signed as part of the Oslo Accords between Israel and the PA, established the notion of a single customs envelope including Israel and the territories.

The meeting was led by Manufacturers Association of Israel president Shraga Brosh and Dr. Bassim Khoury, chairman of the Palestinian Federation of Industries.

"We are calling on our leaders to expand and deepen the economic ties between Israel and the PA because we believe the economic cooperation is the best way to bring about calm and generate reciprocal benefits for both Israel and the PA,' the Manufacturers Association said ahead of the Annapolis summit.

"We are calling on Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and President Mahmoud Abbas to consider the economic security for Israel and the PA and to reopen the crossings between Israel and the Gaza Strip in order to allow for the passage of people and goods between the two areas."

Since the Hamas takeover of Gaza on June 12, the Karni crossing, which had served as the primary passageway of goods into and out of Gaza, has been open only for the transfer of humanitarian necessities as Israel and the PA continue to search for a viable alternative to Hamas personnel manning the border crossings.