ECONOMIC SURVEY - 15-Dec-94

15 December 1994

(COMMUNICATED BY GPO ECONOMICS DESK)

PRIVATIZATION:

* PRIVATIZATION OF SHEKEM DEPARTMENT STORES COMPLETED.
The Government Companies Authority completed, on 14.12.94, the privatization of the Shekem Department Store chain. The final sale of 35%, the controlling interest of Shekem's shares was to Elco Marketing Chains for NIS 167 million. Elco Marketing Chains appointed Elco Group chairman Gershon Zalkind as the new chairman of Shekem. The remainder of Shekem's shares belong to the public and the employees.
Shekem Moshe Eilat,

(03)-821590

* BANK HAPOALIM TENDER PUBLISHED.
MI Holdings, the Government Owned Company responsible for privatizing the banking sector, opened the tender, on 12.12.94, for parties interested in purchasing controlling interest in the country's largest bank, Bank Hapoalim. The tender calls for selling between 20-40% of the bank's shares and "Ma'ariv" (12.12.94) expects that a minimum of $400 million will be needed to purchase 20% of the bank.
MI Holdings Gil Leidner, (03)-6919924

GOVERNMENT SECTOR:

* PRIME MINISTER ACCOMPANIED TO JAPAN AND SOUTH KOREA BY PROMINENT ISRAELI BUSINESSMEN.
Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was accompanied by a group of businessmen from major Israeli industrial concerns on his trip to Japan and South Korea. Executives from Government-related industries include, Brig. Gen.

(Res.) Yitzhak Gat, President of Rafael Armament Development Authority, Moshe Keret, CEO of Israel Aircraft Industries, Gabi Komissar, CEO of TAAS Israel Industries, and Brig. Gen. (Res.) David Shoval of SIBAT. Executives from the private sector include: Dan Propper, President of Manufacturers Association and Chairman of Federation of Israeli Economic Organizations, Dan Gillerman, Chairman of Federation of Israel Chambers of Commerce, Emmanuel Gill, CEO of Elbit, Elchanan Harel, Chairman of Israel-Japan Friendship Society and Chamber of Commerce, Jacob Toren, CEO of El-Op Industries, David Weinshal, CEO of Clal Israel, and Benny Gaon, CEO of Koor Industries.
Prime Minister's Media Advisor, Benny Cohen, (02)-705555

MACRO-ECONOMIC NEWS:

*INDUSTRIAL AND TOTAL EXPORTS UP BY MORE THAN 10 PERCENT FOR FIRST 11 MONTHS OF 1994.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade announced this week that Israel's total industrial exports for the first eleven months of the year rose by 12.1% to $13.44 billion. Industrial exports, excluding diamonds, rose during the first eleven months of 1994 to $10.12 billion, up by 10.5% from the same period the year before. According to the statistics, a majority of sectors showed an increase in exports led by the chemical and plastics sector, with a rise of 27% and the diamond industry with an increase of 24%. Reporting a decrease in exports were the food and beverage sector with a 5% decrease, and the electronics and metal sector with a decline of 0.8% in exports.
Ministry of Industry and Trade - Avital Bar, (02)-220340

* TRADE DEFICIT GREW 23 PERCENT DURING FIRST TEN MONTHS OF YEAR DUE TO FASTER GROWTH IN IMPORTS COMPARED TO EXPORTS.
The Central Bureau of Statistics reported the trade deficit grew by $1.3 billion, or 23%, during the first ten months of 1994 to $6.9 billion. The CBS reported this was due to an increase of 16% in imports for the period to $21.3 billion, compared with a slower rate of growth, 12%, in total exports to $14.4 billion.
Central Bureau of Statistics - David Neumann, (02)-553400

FOREIGN TRADE:

* GERMANY'S ABB EXAMINING POSSIBILITY OF OPENING FACTORY IN ISRAEL.
Executives at ABB, a major German electronic manufacturing concern, are currently examining the possibility of establishing a factory in Israel to supply electric turbine products. This follows a request from Moshe Katz, the managing director of the Israel Electric Corporation, at a ceremony in Mannheim, Germany last week at which he signed contracts for the purchase of two electricity producing turbines from ABB. The contracts are worth DM 124 million and the turbines are to be delivered in 1997. Between 20-30% of the contracts' value is to be purchased from Israeli suppliers, according to IEC regulations.
Israel Electric Corporation - Yael Ne'eman, (03)-5605101

*POTENTIAL EXPORTS TO SOUTH KOREA COULD REACH $190 MILLION IN 1995 AND $300 MILLION IN 1997.
Potential exports to South Korea are estimated to reach $190 million during 1995, about $230 million in 1996, and around $300 million in 1997, according to a study produced by the chief economist at the Israel Export Institute, Yehuda Baruch. The study is based on estimations of consumer, population, and industrial growth both in Korea and in Israel, the Export Institute reported. The primary export growth areas include the chemical, high tech, and diamond sectors. The Export Institute also expects a growth in exports of medical equipment to Korea.
Israel Export Institute - Yehuda Baruch, (03)-5142802