Deutsche Telekom incubates Israeli start-ups
Germany’s communications giant Deutsche Telekom is preparing Israeli start-ups for the European market. During the three-month program, DT provides mentoring, pilot customers, offices in Berlin plus travel & accommodation costs.
Another road for Nigeria
Israel’s Solel Boneh has won a $580 million Nigerian government tender to rebuild and widen an 84km section of the Ibadan-Lagos highway in southwest Nigeria. The deal follows a $390 million contract in Oct 2012 to build a road in the Shgamu-Benin area of Nigeria.
Cisco wants more Israelis
Cisco CEO John Chambers announced plans to open a development center dealing with information technology in Israel. The technology giant plans to hire up to 100 more Israeli employees, who will join the 2,000 Israelis that the organization currently employs.
Record Israeli food exports to USA
Exports of Israeli Foods and Beverages to the United States reached a record $224 million in 2012 – an increase of 50% in five years. One of the reasons cited was “quality”.
14 projects will “get the BIRD”
No, it is good news. In its latest round of investment, the Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation will provide $10.95 million for fourteen Israeli projects. BIRD finds US partners and provides up to a third of total projected costs.
UK-Israel bilateral trade up 21%
Trade between the UK and Israel increased from $1.2 billion to $1.4 billion in the first quarter of 2013. Exports from Israel to the UK increased by over 50 percent.
The long goodbye
Governor of the Bank of Israel, Professor Stanley Fischer has begun his wind-down to retirement. He has already taken his leave of the Knesset Finance Committee and the Bank of Israel will host a professional Farewell Conference in his honor on June 18. A great national asset – he is a hard act to follow.
Google buys Waze for over $1 billion
Traffic crowd-sourcer Waze became one of the largest purchases in Israel’s history. Waze, founded in 2008, now has nearly 50 million users. The ability to produce such a high-value application is also very good news for Israel’s growing hi-tech scene.
Israel is still an A with S&P
Standard & Poor's Ratings Services (S&P) affirmed its A+ foreign currency credit rating for Israel with a "Stable" outlook. It also reaffirmed its local currency A-1 sovereign credit rating.
High growth, low unemployment and health costs
Israel’s growth exceeds most of the other OECD countries. Unemployment is one of the lowest at 6.9 percent. Despite having one of the lowest mortality rates and highest life expectancies, Israel spent the fifth least on health (7.7% of GDP). And then there’s the gas…