Buffet is good for Israel
Seven years after mega-businessman Warren Buffet paid $4 billion for 80% of Israeli precision toolmaker Iscar, he has exercised the option to buy the rest for another $2.05 billion. The deal will generate $1 billion of tax revenue to Israel and may remove the need for some planned budget cuts.
Israel gets another “A”
Fitch Ratings reaffirmed Israel's long-term foreign currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at 'A' and local currency IDR at 'A+, both with a "Stable" outlook, citing the country's diverse and advanced economy. It also predicted that natural gas would boost Israel's growth rate to 3.7% in 2013.
Germany looks to Israel for advanced water technologies
24 Israeli companies including Mekorot, Amiad and BlueI presented their products at Wasser Berlin last week. The trade fair focused on water and wastewater technologies and management.
Check Point boss’s university career
(Thanks to Uri) Gil Shwed runs Check Point – Israel’s leading IT security company. He never gained a university degree, although at 16 he was running the computers at the Hebrew University. He is now on the board of trustees at both Tel Aviv University and its Youth University.
Israeli biotech goes to USA for $480 million
Miami-based Opko Health has just taken over Israel’s Prolor Biotech. Prolor develops long-lasting medicines including a human growth hormone, a clotting factor for hemophilia and treatments for diabetes and obesity. The CEO of Opko is also the Chairman of Israel’s Teva.
13 Israeli start-ups graduate from Microsoft incubator
Microsoft celebrated the graduation of its second Israeli class of Microsoft Accelerator for Windows Azure after a four-month intensive program in Herzliya. 12 of the start-ups are launching products on May 7th and eight have already received over $4 million of funding.
What Israel did for IBM (and vice versa)
Meir Nissensohn, former general manager of IBM in Israel, explains why IBM came to Israel, what investment opportunities Israel offers to large, multinational companies and what these companies can give to Israel in return. (Interview on Doug Goldstein’s radio program).
US companies drool over Israeli start-ups
Israel has 4,800 start-ups. Only the USA has more. Almost every U.S. Venture Capital fund has at least one Israeli startup in its portfolio. Israel is a nation of people who can create hardware, gadgets and apps and who have the confidence to leave good jobs and launch companies.
Georgia will G.R.O.W. with Israel
A program called G.R.O.W. - Georgia Reaching Out Worldwide is attracting trade between the US State and the Jewish State. Ronen Kenan, who represents Georgia in Israel, said, “Israel is a gateway to a lot of markets in Europe, Asia-Pacific and Africa.”
What does Israel give to the USA?
Ex Ambassador Yoram Ettinger explains that Israel provides the United States huge financial benefits just with its modifications to US military hardware.