You guys need a economy-thread;) :)

Klein: GDP to rise an annual 5% in two years

Assuming robust economic expansion abroad and a continuation of current domestic fiscal policy, the Israeli economy could climb to gross domestic product of 5 percent within two years, Bank of Israel Governor David Klein said Sunday in an interview with The Jerusalem Post.

"This forecast makes two central assumptions, but there is a good probability that these two assumptions will materialize," said Klein. "We're not talking about the distant future either, just a year or two off."

Klein said the 5% growth potential is a multiyear average with growth slightly above 5% at the beginning of the trend and slightly lower as the impact of the change levels off.

"The Israeli economy is on a growth tragectory, but it could grow faster. There is still a large, untapped potential of quality manpower that could attract foreign investments."

Klein is optimistic about foreign investments. He expects growth in a number of areas including communications, hi-tech and even technology-intensive divisions of more traditional industries such as textiles.

He says the present situation in which growth is being fueled by private consumption and exports and not by foreign investments will be short-lived.

"I see a situation in the not-too-distant future in which the interest rate spread between the shekel and the dollar will shrink as long-term foreign investments increase", said Klein.

Klein also commented on monetary policy. "I have no opinion on where the shekel should be against other foreign currencies", said Klein. "And [US Federal Reserve Chairman] Alan Greenspan agrees with me."

Klein was referring to Federal Reserve Chirman Alan Greenspan's comment at a European Banking Congress in Frankfurt that foreign investors would either have "a diminished appetite" for dollars or demand higher interest rates due to the US's high current account deficit.

"I agree with Greenspan that the markets determine currency exchange rates", said Klein, "not the governors of central banks".

Bank of Israel's governor said there are strong signs that foreign economic growth is still strong. "We are in the midst of a growth cycle shared by the US and China, even Europe is in resurgence and Japan has joined the growth tend as well." The second assumption – enlightened domestic economic policy – also carries a high probability of coming true, says Klein.

"In 2003 when Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu came into office and implemented his policies there was an immediate turnaround. And that attrated a lot of attention.

"Now Netanyahu has the less sexy job of maintaining policy. This might give the impression that Netanyahu is losing momentum. But that's misleading. He is holding to fiscal discipline very nicely."

The full interview will be published on Friday.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1101010792705

Unexpected budget surplus in November

The total budget deficit in January-November 2004 is only 55% of the planned deficit for the year.

Zeev Klein 1 Dec 04 17:25
Israel had an unexpected NIS 46 million budget surplus in November on the government’s domestic and overseas activity, compared with deficits of NIS 872 million in October and NIS 3.3 billion in the second quarter.

The government’s domestic deficit in November was NIS 192 billion, offset by a fairly large NIS 238 million surplus in its overseas activity, according to figures published today by the Ministry of Finance Account General’s office.

Israel’s budget deficit totaled NIS 11.4 billion in January-November 2004, barely 55% of the planned NIS 20.6 billion deficit for 2004. Estimates are that the budget deficit this year will be 0.5% less than the official 4% of GDP target for the year.

The government’s domestic deficit in January-November amounted to NIS 8.75 billion, only 50% of the original plan. The cumulative deficit from overseas activity was NIS 2.65 billion, 84% of the planned overseas deficit.

Government revenues totaled NIS 15.7 billion in November, of which NIS 13.5 billion was from domestic revenues. Government spending in November totaled NIS 15.2 billion. Revenues totaled NIS 165 billion in January-November, of which NIS 155 billion were domestic revenues.

Government spending totaled NIS 175 billion in January-November, of which NIS 162 billion was domestic spending.

http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=859936&fid=942

India ; Israeli vice PM to bring trade delegation


India News, New Delhi,Israeli Vice Prime Minister Ehud Olmert who is visiting India Dec 6-9 will be accompanied by a big ministerial and trade delegation.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli finance minister and former prime minister, will be part of the ministerial delegation accompanying Olmert - who is also the Israeli minister for industry, trade, labour and communications.

"This is the first Israeli ministerial level visit to India since the May 2004 general election and it reflects the continued great importance that the government of Israel attaches to its bilateral relations with India in all fields," the Israeli embassy said in a statement Wednesday.

The 75-member delegation, including 50 trade representatives, will be visiting Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi to scout for business opportunities.


The trade delegation would represent diverse sectors like IT, banking, infrastructure, agriculture, defence and security.

Some of the major participants from Israel include Motorola, Rad Data Communications, Alvarion, ELISRA, ECI Telecom, ELUL Group, RAFAEL, Tadiran Communication Ltd, Plastro Irrigation Systems and TAHAL Consulting Engineers.

A few Israeli companies like TAHAL and Plastro already have a presence in India.

On Dec 8, the Israeli vice prime minister will have an interaction with Indian industry during a joint conference being organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Indian Merchant Chamber (IMC).

"The Israeli delegation would be looking at all kinds of collaboration and agents, while joint ventures may evolve out of the one-to-one interactions planned after the conference being organised by the Indian chambers," an Israeli embassy spokesperson told IANS.

http://www.keralanext.com/news/?id=71774

There is no doubt about the fact that the Israeli economy keeps improving, thank you Benjamin Netanyahu! thank you for doing what many before you couldnt

yes...Nethanyahu is indeed one of the best Financial ministers ever in Israel.

Yeah, thank you Netaniyahu.... for increasing the numbers of the working poor, increasing the outflow of capital, not investing in road infrastructure, privatizing national assets at ridiculous prices, continuing support for religious services, shifting the tax burden from the capital to labor, etc. etc.

Fuck Netaniyahu.

Israel and India set up $2m annual R&D fund

Minister of Industry, Trade, and Labor Ehud Olmert is heading a delegation of 100 Israeli businesspeople to India.

Hadas Manor 5 Dec 04 13:14

Israel and India will signed this week an agreement to establish a bilateral R&D fund, and an R&D cooperation agreement. Each partner will invest $1 million annually in the fund. The fund will be founded during a visit to India by Minster of Industry, Trade, and Labor Ehud Olmert, who is heading a delegation of 100 Israeli businesspeople. Minister of Finance Benjamin Netanyahu last week called off his participation in the delegation.
The delegation will have representatives from 50 companies, including Tadiran Communications (TASE: TDCM), Comverse Technology (Nasdaq: CMVT), Oil Refineries, Israel Military Industries, Orckit Communications (Nasdaq: ORCT; TASE: ORCT), the Tahal group, Plastro Irrigation Systems (TASE: PLSTR), state-owned Israel Foreign Trade Risks Insurance Corp. (IFTRIC), and the commercial banks. Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute chairman Shraga Brosh will play a leading role in the delegation. The bilateral R&D fund will be called the India-Israel R&D Cooperation Initiative (IIRDCI).

During the four-day visit to Mumbai, Delhi, and Banglore, Olmert will meet with ministers of Industry and Trade from several states, and with the Indian Minister of Agriculture, to discuss cooperation between companies from the two countries, both in India and in third countries. Olmert will also discuss the inclusion of Israeli companies in government tenders in India.

Discussions will also be held towards the signing of a future customs exemption or reduction agreement, in order to substantially boost Israeli civilian exports to India, and improve cooperation between customs authorities in the two countries. A financial protocol will also be discussed, as well as the inclusion of Israeli companies in the upgrading of agriculture in India. The Indian government elected in May 2004 has given high priority to helping poor people, especially farmers, and has allocated large resources to this.

Other meetings will be held with the Indian Minister of Communications and Information Technology for implementation of the R&D agreement for information technology, which the two countries signed in 2002. The penetration of communications technology, especially cellular technology, will also be discussed.

65% of India’s territory, currently consists of rural regions. The government plans to hook up every village to at least one satellite communications line (in order to avoid the high cost of installing land lines). The government communications company will implement the project, but the potential for including Israeli companies is great.

Business meetings include the heads of Wipro Finolex, Infosys, BPL, and the Tata group, India’s largest group, with an annual turnover of $11 billion. Tata is interested in water treatment technologies and industrial chemicals.

The possibility of carrying out the Chief Scientist’s plan with Tata for joint cooperation funds, including Israel and multinational companies, will also be considered. During the visit, Olmert will announce the opening of an Israel trade center in Mombai, to be managed by a private Indian company.

Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on December 5, 2004

India's L&T mulling Israel gas pipeline tender bid

Larsen & Toubro has completed a similar 700-kilometer project in India.
Hadas Manor, Mumbai 7 Dec 04 13:15

Indian construction company Larsen & Toubro Ltd. (L&T) is considering investment in Israeli real estate. L&T employs 23,000 engineers and technicians, and 35 senior executives dealing planning and real estate projects.

L&T representatives met yesterday in Mumbai with Adv. Yehuda Raveh. They said they were considering bidding in the tender for an 80-kilometer land-based section of the natural gas pipeline extending from Ashkelon. L&T has completed a similar 700-kilometer project in India.

Raveh added that he had proposed that L&T bid in the Carmel Tunnel tender, in the event that the Dragados group from Spain withdraws.

http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=861487&fid=942

India Planning to Open Bank of India Branch in Israel Diamond District

(December 9, '04, 4:33 Albert Robinson)


The Indian government is planning to open the first branch of the Bank of India in Israel at the Diamond Exchange complex in Ramat Gan, a senior official said following a meeting with Israel’s visiting Minister of Industry, Trade, and Labor Ehud Olmert.

Israel Diamond Exchange Enterprises vice chairman Jacob Kattan, who attended the meeting, said opening the branch in the diamond complex made sense due to the large volume of diamond trading between Israel and India, Israel’s Globes financial daily reported.

Bilateral diamond trade between Israel and India totaled $1.2 billion in January-September 2004.

Following Olmert’s meetings with government officials, it was also agreed that a delegation from the Indian diamond exchange would visit Israel early next year.

http://www.idexonline.com/portal_FullNews.asp?id=23398

Israel's ECI completes $10 mn contract with Bharti

ECI Telecom, an Israel-based telecom service provider, has announced execution of $10 million contract with India's Bharti Tele-Ventures.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1197378,0002.htm

India-Israel economic news:

IDE Technologies to supply 4 desalination plants to India for $11m

http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=873891&fid=942

Israeli company ties up with Indian aeronautics firm

http://www.indiaexpress.com/news/world/20050113-2.html

EVS announces $1m in orders from Indian, Israeli aeronautics manufacturers

http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=873429&fid=942[B]

what type of economic system do you have?
Somewhere i read that nobody can get fired in your country.

what type of economic system do you have?
Somewhere i read that nobody can get fired in your country.

No, that's not really true. It is harder to fire people than say in the USA but not as hard as it is in Italy for example.

Israel has a market based economy similar to the USA. It's kind of inbetween the social-welfare, strong labour-unions countries of western europe and the more capitalist USA.

This is the best site: http://www.israel21c.org for this sort of information. Especially look under the 'technology' tab for the latest technological advances being developed in Israel.

Yeah, Israel is a fair combination between the US economy and the European one

Israeli firm negotiating with Reliance


CEO Zvi Yemini: Plastics industry raw material costs rose 80% in 18 months.

ZAG chairman and CEO Zvi Yemini is negotiating with India's Reliance group to buy raw materials for ZAG's plastics factory, and for its subsidiary Hydro-Industries. Yemini wants to reduce ZAG's dependence on Israel Petrochemical Enterprises (TASE:PTCH).

Yemini, who also serves as chairman of Society of the Manufacturers Association Israel Plastics and Rubber Industry, recently visited India and met with senior Reliance executives. Yemini told "Globes", "ZAG intends to import raw materials for the plastics industry from Reliance, and reduce purchases of raw materials currently offered by Petrochemical Enterprises. We are also negotiating to market finished products in India, mainly those of ZAG, but also Hydro-Industries "

Hydro-Industries was founded in the Haifa technology incubator. It manufactures self-winding water hose reels. Industrialist Stef Wertheimer is a partner in the company.

Yemini says regular purchases of raw materials from Reliance could lower costs of raw materials for Israel's plastics industry. He said Israel's plastics industry, like the global plastics industry, was struggling to absorb the 80% rise in raw materials costs over the past 18 months, caused by the surge in oil prices.

"It's impossible to pass the costs onto consumers, and it's impossible to raises consumer prices by more than 10-15%," he said. "Israel's plastics industry is dealing with the rise in prices by streamlining and stopping production of unprofitable goods that cannot be produced under the new conditions. On the other hand, this is also an opportunity for large manufacturers to grow very strong."

http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=876325&fid=942