His Majesty King Abdullah on Tuesday called for swift implementation of the Paris donor meeting decisions to help salvage the Palestinian economy.

During a meeting with Middle East Quartet envoy Tony Blair, King Abdullah stressed the importance of continued support by the international community to the Palestinian Authority to empower it to carry out its tasks and develop its institutions, to serve as a nucleus for the envisioned independent Palestinian state that lives in peace side by side with Israel.

His Majesty highlighted efforts exerted by the Quartet during the meeting of the donor countries held in Paris in December 2007.

In the conference, international donors pledged to support the Palestinian government of President Mahmoud Abbas, pledging $7.4 billion in aid over three years, a sum that topped the Palestinians' expectations.

In his speech at the meeting, Blair stressed that the event “is not just a donors' conference, it is a state-building conference”.

The King and Blair discussed in their meeting on Tuesday developments in the region and efforts exerted to push the peace process forward.

The King stressed the need to maintain the momentum created by the Annapolis meeting to realize peace, reviewing the Kingdom's efforts with the various peace-concerned parties to help the Palestinians and Israelis reach a permanent and just settlement to the conflict, leading to the creation of an independent Palestinian state.

For his part, Blair briefed King Abdullah on efforts exerted by the Quartet, grouping the UK, Russia, the EU and the UN, to support the Palestinian government in building and enhancing the Palestinian Authority institutions.