American-Israel Chamber of Commerce

Bakery Products — Ashkelon-based manufacturer of a wide range of frozen unbaked dough, including a new line of Passover products, is interested in entering the US market.  Products include biscuits, strudels, twistix and party snack products in a raw state as well as sweet biscuit dough with various fillings.  Seeking introductions to warehouses and distributors in the US that supply the supermarket and food service industry. 

Legal Outsourcing — Jerusalem-based company offers legal outsourcing to handle spikes in workload or to satisfy specialty needs that could not otherwise be covered in certain practice areas.  Company’s attorneys are graduates of top US law schools and offer billing rates which are 50% or more below leading law firms, with built-in quality control and complete legal solutions for discreet projects from start to finish.  Seeking introductions to small-to-medium-size US law firms, solo practitioners, in-house legal departments, and corporate clients.

Snow-Melting Tiles — Ramat Gan-based company is developing do-it-yourself modular external snow melting tiles which will be offered in different sizes, forms, textures, and colors for home, commercial, and industrial use.  Products to be manufactured through a molding injection process with electrical cables inserted into the tile.  Seeking angel investment to develop industrial prototype.

Fish Farm — Kfar Hess-based manufacturer of submersible and flexible net cage system for open seas and open-ocean aquaculture farms.  Seeking customers in the fish breeding, fish feeding, and fish farming industries.

Seeds — Or Yehuda-based importer of seeds for flowers, herbs, vegetables, and more for the Israeli market since 1950.  Seeking US suppliers of seeds.

Is Incoming Tourism Losing its Momentum?
Incoming tourists by air, January 2003 to January 2005
(’000′s, trend data)

Source: Central Bureau of Statistics 

Whether or not the Iraq war that began in March 2003 is yet over, is a moot point. But it is clear that when the first stage of fighting ended in April 2003 (with hopes of major geo-political changes in the Middle East), one repercussion was a significant upswing in incoming tourism to Israel, an upswing that seemed at the time to signal the end of the most severe crisis in the history of Israel’s tourism and hotel industry that began with the outbreak of the El-Aqsa Intifada, in October 2000.

Now, close to two years since it began, the tourist revival seems to have petered out: from July 2004 through January 2005, the trend level of incoming tourism by air (some 80+% of the total) has remained virtually unchanged (see graph).

It is not entirely clear why the tourism revival has lost its momentum. There is a definite (negative) connection between security unrest and the volume of tourism, and yet 2004 as a whole saw a significant decrease in terrorist activity in Israel. With the continuing weakness of the US dollar against other currencies, together with the stability of the shekel/$ exchange rate, Israel has not suddenly become a more expensive tourist destination, which could explain the current lack of growth in tourism.

We are also not sure what the future will bring. Will regional developments in the post-Arafat era, including the upcoming implementation of the Disengagement from Gaza plan, increase the confidence of potential tourists and draw them back to Israel? Will the establishment of a casino in Eilat (eagerly promoted, at the time of writing, by the Ministers of Finance and Tourism) help to encourage tourists to come?

To all these question marks has to be added the fact that even after the revival that began in mid-2003, the current monthly level of incoming tourism is still — more than four years on — close to 50% below the peak level preceding the El-Aqsa Intifada (this, in itself, shows the severity of the most recent tourism crisis: in previous crises — of which there have been several in the past 20 years, it took a maximum of 3-4 years to fully regain the peak prior to each crisis).

We have, therefore, at present, a combination of factors still obviously creating uncertainty together with a long road ahead to full recovery of tourism. It is no surprise, under these circumstances, that the current loss of momentum is causing concern.

Provided as a service to AICC by I-Biz — Israel Business Information Services Ltd. For more information on I-Biz information services, visit www.i-biz.co.il or contact info@i-biz.co.il.

Other News

• In February, Georgia bought $5 million worth of Israel Bonds, following an extensive campaign to persuade state governments to expand their investments. Currently, Israel Bonds are held by 22 of the 50 states.

• Petach Tikvah-based Miskal Publishing has acquired the Hebrew foreign rights to What Queen Esther Knew by Georgia-based co-authors Connie Glaser and Barbara Smalley.  The deal was brokered by literary agent Heide Lange, best known for her success as agent for The DaVinci Code.

• Cellcom‘s 2004 revenue was up 6% over the previous year and 6% higher than rival, Partner. With 2.54 million subscribers, Cellcom is Israel’s largest wireless operator, and is partly owned by Atlanta-based BellSouth.

• Baran Group was rated as Israel’s largest engineering company by D&B Israel in its 2005 ranking of Israel’s 100 companies.  The company owns a US subsidiary, Baran Telecom, that is based in Cumming, Georgia.

• El Al Israel Airlines has signed an agreement with Connexion by Boeing to install real-time, high-speed Internet service on the air carrier’s long-haul fleet.  The installations are expected to be completed 2007.

• Israel is a cardio-vascular super power with 67 companies focusing on this field of research, according to the Israel Life Science Industry Association. Overall, the country has 466 Life Sciences companies with 80% of them founded in the past decade.

• Israel’s economy grew by 4.2% during 2004 with GDP growth fueled by exports of goods and services that grew at a 14.3% annual rate, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics.

• Israel boasts one of the highest penetration rates of Internet in the world, with 50% of the nation’s households hooked up to the worldwide web, according to a study by BDI.  By comparison, only 22% of US households are online, while in Europe, the rate is 10%.

• The number of Israeli immigrants and tourists to the US fell sharply in 2004 as a result of tougher US visa regulations since 9/11.  According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 600,000 Israelis currently reside in the US, but only 1,704 Israelis obtained immigration visas this past year, a drop of 23% from 2003.

• GlobalEXECWomen, an Atlanta-based group of international female leaders, has launched its first International Council to strengthen individual countrys’ ties with Atlanta’s technology infrastructure.  Ronnie Genser of Genser International Consulting, a member of the AICC Board, has been appointed to the group to represent Israel.

• Rishon Lezion-based ITL Optronics has won a contract from the US Army for night vision systems that are installed on Tavor assault rifles used in Iraq.  The order is worth an estimated $1 million.

• VisionCare Opthalmic Technologies, with its R&D center in Yehud, received a $20 million investment led by Boston Scientific to complete clinical development of their implantable miniature telescope prosthetic device to treat age-related macular degeneration.  Other investors included Israeli VC firms Pitango and Infinity.

Trade Opportunities in Israel and the Eastern Mediterranean
What You Won’t Read in the Newspapers

 Featuring

Sherwin Pomerantz
Director, Eastern Mediterranean Office
Georgia Department of Economic Development

Thursday, March 31, 2005
4:00-6:00 PM

QuickStart Learning Center
75 Fifth Street NW, 4th Floor
Technology Square
Midtown Atlanta

Click here for a map

The situation is changing and evolving in Israel and the neighborhood of the Eastern Mediterranean.  This is your chance to:

·          Hear first-hand from the state’s trade representative in the Eastern Mediterranean about export opportunities in the region.

·          Get updated information on “hot” sectors for exports to Israel, Turkey, Jordan, Dubai, and Qatar.

·          Learn about the growing economies in the region and why companies there are eager to do business with US firms.

·          Ask questions about the current situation in the region and best prospects for business connections there.

Sherwin Pomerantz, director of the Eastern Mediterranean Office of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, is headquartered in Jerusalem with satellite offices in Istanbul and Amman.  He will address these topics, answer your questions, and be available for brief one-on-one discussions relevant to your product line or service.

A graduate of the University of Illinois with a master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Pomerantz has lived in Israel for the past 21 years.  He and three partners founded Atid EDI over 13 years ago.  The firm is noted for economic development consulting with both public and private clients involved in trade and investment promotion.

There is no charge for this briefing, but you are
encouraged to register on line by clicking here,
please include your name, organization, e-mail and phone.

For further information call (404)-843-9426