Israel Active

The coffee chain Cofix, which sells everything on its menu at 5 shekels an item, is opening up in the evenings to sell alcoholic beverages also at 5 shekels (under $1.50) a glass. Even at those prices, Cofix expects to make a gross profit of 100 per cent on each drink.

UK low-cost airline easyJet has launched a Hebrew-language homepage that allows customers to book flights in any of the ten currencies available. EasyJet added that, in February, it flew its one-millionth passenger on its Israel route since it started operations in 2009.

New Israeli company iAngels provides a service for individuals to invest relatively small amounts in start-ups. iAngels is advised by wealthy investors “Angels” who pledge their own money. Smaller investors join a “crowdsourcing” investment that is returned if the finance target isn’t reached.

Israel Chemicals and Canada's Allana Potash will jointly develop Allana's Danakhil potash project in Ethiopia. The proposed mine's feasibility study indicates that it will produce approximately one million tons of potash annually within five years.

Amiad Water Systems won a $1.1 million contract to supply 50 filtration systems to a project providing clean drinking water in Angola. Meanwhile the Israeli government honored Amiad an Outstanding Exporter award for exporting products totaling $83 million in 2012.

Tom Glaser begins a series of blogs for the Times of Israel. In it, he will focus on the American side of the U.S. - Israel business equation with articles about the people, companies, and organizations making a difference. I hope to link to his regular articles here.

(Thanks to Uri) India’s Dr. Akhilesh Kumar works at Israel’s Vulcani Agricultural Research Institute. His is investigating how to store India’s glut of winter potatoes to feed its hungry population all year round. Israeli hi-tech can help develop better strains and solar-powered storage.

(Thanks to Nevet - www.broaderview.org) An optimistic piece in the Turkish Haber Turk monthly magazine. Translated by Al-Monitor.com

Israel’s Finance Minister is doubling the number of communities eligible for tax benefits. The emphasis in the composition of the list was the distance of the community from Israel's center and its proximity to the borders with Syria, Lebanon, or the Gaza Strip.

In a reversal of the normal trend, Israel Aerospace Industries and the Singapore government today unveiled the company's Cyber Early Warning R&D Center in Singapore. The center will employ mainly Singaporeans, but is modeled on IAI's cyber-accessibility center in Israel.