ECONOMIC NEWS ITEMS
December 3, 1996
Possible Australian Investment
AUSTRALIAN FIRMS LOOK TO INVEST HERE
("Jerusalem Post" Nov. 21) By David Harris
Subheading: Sunshine, IAI, consider carbon fiber factory.
Several Australian firms are currently considering multi-million dollar
investments in Israel, the Center for Business Promotion revealed
yesterday. Their interests span from agriculture and to engineering.
Negotiations between Sunshine Consolidated Industries and Israel
Aircraft Industries to establish an advanced carbon fibers factory are "at
an advanced stage," CBP foreign investment specialist Shachar Meidan said.
The factory, which would be built in Israel, would produce, amonst other
items, ceramic materials for various aircraft parts.
The Australian company already has a patent for the anticipated method
of production and would supply the knowhow for the operation, while IAI
would manage the industrial production and marketing aspects. The factory
would cost tens of millions of dollars to set up.
The partnership was initiated when Sunshine approached the Israeli
Embassy in Australia, which in turn asked CBP to hunt out prospective
business partners.
Elsewhere, Australian Multimedia Enterprise Ltd. head of policy Rohan
Melhuish paid a three-day visit to Israel last week in a search for
business partners. The company is looking to invest up to $40 million in
multimedia partnerships.
NSW, which specializes in security systems software, recently met
representatives of MLL, Tadiran and IBM here with a view to working in
tandem on Conversion 2000. Firms throughout the world are attempting to
develop ways of amending software to cope with the change of dates in the
new millennium.
One other unidentified company has been meeting Israeli advanced
aquaculture experts for help in setting up a multi-million dollar
fish-breeding project in Australia.
"The Australian economy was traditionally based on natural resources
and agriculture, and was more or less a closed economy," Meidan said.
"They realized they couldn't advance their economy without advanced
technologies."
Hi-Tech in Beit She'an
GROUP OF ISRAELIS AND AMERICANS CHECKING HI-TECH PLANT
("Ma'ariv" Nov. 21)
A group of Israelis returning from a stay in the U.S., headed by Eli
Schneider, is planning the establishment of a large high-tech plant in the
town of Beit She'an in northeastern Israel. It is planned to invest
between $50-million and $60-million in the project, and it will employ 216
workers. The idea is being examined by the Israel Investment Center.
The new enterprise, to be called G.R. Enterprise, will produce magnetic
heads for computer hard disks. This is a dramatically growing market
around the world. The planned factory will supply about 30 million heads,
or 4 percent of the annual world demand. The initiators include American
engineers who have the necessary knowhow, and they have expressed optimism
over successful export of the plant's entire production.
The annual sales turnover by the third year of operation is expected to
be about $250-million, with high profits involved. While awaiting the
approval of the Investment Center, the initiators are trying to raise
additional investors in Israel and abroad for the new enterprise.
ELTA: Warning Systems
ELTA TO SUPPLY WARNING SYSTEMS TO A EUROPEAN COUNTRY
("Yediot Aharonot" Nov. 21)
The Elta Corp., a subsidiary company of the Israel Aircraft Industries,
has concluded a deal to sell systems for gathering intelligence and
advance warning systems to a European country to a value of more than
$100-million. This large transaction is expected to be finalized in the
coming few days. It followed prolonged negotiations with the defense
officials of that country.
Elta will supply ground and air systems which will help the country in
question collect intelligence electronically, and receive advance warning
of threatened attacks.
Elta is the leading producer of warning and intelligence systems; more
than a year ago, it supplied the Chilean Air Force with the Falcon system,
an airborne warning device installed on planes of the 707 model. In the
first six months of this year, Elta's sales have totalled $120-million.
Israeli Chemical Companies
ISRAELI CHEMICAL COMPANIES IN 1995-1996 ACQUIRED FOREIGN COMPANIES
VALUED AT $600-MILLION.
("Ha'aretz" Nov. 26)
The acquisition of companies abroad by Israeli chemical concerns
reached a value during 1995-1996 of $600-million. This was reported by the
head of the Chemicals Department of the Manufacturers' Association, Amir
Makov. He said this indicates the growth in investments by Israeli
chemical companies in companies abroad, compared with previous years. This
growth shows the penetration of new markets where Israeli companies had
not previously operated, and this will bring an enlarging of this entire
branch of industry.
Among the companies involved was Teva Pharmaceuticals, which bought
companies in Britain, Hungary, Italy and the U.S.; Agis, which bought a
company in the U.S.; Agan Makhteshim, which bought companies in Brazil and
Spain and is negotiating to buy more companies in South America; and
Israeli Chemicals Corp., which bought enterprises in the U.S., France and
Germany.