Israel Active

Irish medical devices company Covidien has bought Israel’s Given Imaging, manufacturer of the unique digestible Pillcam colon diagnosis camera, for a reported $860 million.

One of Israel’s biggest companies, Frutarom has just purchased US-based flavor manufacturer Hagelin & Co for $52.4 million. It follows Frutarom’s recent acquisitions of Russia’s Protein Technologies Ingredients for $50.3 million and Guatemala’s Aroma SA for $12.5 million.

Qoros Auto, the joint car venture of Israel Corporation and China’s Chery Automobile, will have four ranges of cars to accompany the Qoros 3 - the company's first model. The commercial launch is scheduled for later this year.

"Israel's output growth remains relatively strong, unemployment is at historically low levels, its high-tech sector continues to attract international admiration, and new off-shore gas fields have come on stream," The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said in the executive summary of its 2013 Israel Economic Survey.

The cumulative deficit for the last 12 months dropped sharply in November and totaled NIS 31.7 billion, 3% of GDP - much lower than the original target of 4.65% of GDP.

%. Israel’s unemployment rate fell to 5.9% in October from 6% in September. The number of Israelis participating in the work force rose to 3,704,000, up 0.4% from the previous month.

The total of Israel’s foreign currency reserves reached a new record of £80,589 in November.

Fitch announced this that it has affirmed Israel's 'A' rating and raised the country's outlook to 'positive'. It also affirmed Israel's long-term foreign and local currency ratings at 'A' and 'A+' respectively. The agency also raised the outlook on the foreign currency debt from 'stable' to 'positive'.

Another all-time low in Israel’s jobless figures.

After 18 months of talks, Apple Inc confirmed that it has acquired Israel’s PrimeSense. PrimeSense’s gesture recognition hardware and software is embedded in Microsoft’s Kinect system used in Xbox 360 game consoles.