ECONOMIC SURVEY
(COMMUNICATED BY GPO ECONOMICS DESK)
Jerusalem, 4 September 1994
PEACE ECONOMY:
* AGRICULTURE MINISTRY TO HELP PALESTINIANS INSPECT WATER SOURCES TO
DETERMINE SOURCE OF CONTAMINATION.
Agriculture Minister Yaakov Tzur and the Director-General of the
Palestinian Authority's Agriculture Ministry, Muhammed al-Rais agreed
today to allow Israeli experts help Palestinians inspect their water
sources. This follows Health Ministry tests conducted last week on Gazan
fruit and vegetables, during which high levels of bacteria were found in a
number of shipments of vegetables. The presence of bacteria in the
vegetables was attributed to Gaza farmers watering their fields with
sewage water. The Palestinians have denied that this is the case and
turned to the Agriculture Ministry for help in locating the contaminated
water sources.
* BANK HAPOALIM ANNOUNCES AGREEMENT SIGNED WITH BANK OF JORDAN.
Bank Hapoalim announced 28 August 1994 that it had signed a cooperation
agreement with the Bank of Jordan by which Hapoalim would supply foreign
currency and shekel services to the Bank of Jordan's customers. The Bank
of Jordan has just opened two offices in the Territories, one in Ramallah
and the second in Nablus. Hapoalim has also signed an agreement with
Jordan Gulf Bank to provide professional training services, check
clearing, and foreign trade arrangements. Hapoalim is also negotiating
with other Arab banks operating in the Territories to provide them with
these services.
* MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION SIGNS AGREEMENT WITH FEDERATION OF
EGYPTIAN INDUSTRIES.
Dan Proper, chairman of the Israel Manufacturers Association, and Mohamed
Farid Khamis, chairman of the Federation of Egyptian Industries, signed a
cooperation agreement for both organizations on 28 August 1994. Both sides
agreed to cooperate in the exchange of information, lobbying the
Government to reduce tariffs and trade barriers, promotion of reciprocal
capital investment and of reciprocal group visits. Khamis commented that
this was the first official visit from the Egyptian group after the
signing of the Camp David Accords because, 'the times have changed, we now
have a comprehensive peace with the Palestinians, and this is the right
time.'
* ISRAEL AND JORDAN TO JOINTLY MARKET TOURISM PACKAGES.
Tourism Ministry Director-General Eli Ganon and Jordanian Tourism Ministry
Director-General Dr. Gasan Muphleh agreed this week to begin joint
marketing of tourism packages to both Israel and Jordan in the United
States. The project will begin in November at a US travel agent conference
in Portugal. The two also decided that a seminar would be held for Israeli
and Jordanian travel agents, in order to discuss planning a joint
itinerary for tourists to the two countries.
FOREIGN TRADE:
* TRADE WITH ASIA UP BY 25% DURING FIRST HALF OF 1994.
Statistics provided by the Asia desk of the Industry and Trade Ministry's
Foreign Trade Authority, show trade was up by 25% to $2.674 billion in the
first half of the 1994. Exports outpaced imports, further improving
Israel's trade surplus with Asian countries. The Ministry noted exports of
value added products, such as machinery and hi-tech items, rose faster
than those of lower valued added products, such as diamonds and chemicals.
Exports rose by 38.4% to $1.535 billion while overall exports rose by 8.7%
to $7.443 billion during the first half of 1994. Israel's trade surplus
with Asia rose to $396 million, up from a surplus of $85 million during
the first half of 1993.
* EXPORTS WITH LATIN AMERICA UP 52.6% DURING FIRST HALF OF 1994.
Exports with Latin America rose 52.6% during the first half of 1994
reaching $242 million, according to statistics provided by the Latin
America desk of the Foreign Trade Office in the Industry and Trade
Ministry. Imports from Latin America rose 23.9% to $143.2 million, during
the same period. Countries receiving the largest amount of Israeli exports
included Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and Mexico. Countries exporting the
most to Israel included Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, and Argentina.