Israel Active

Having once had no natural resources, suddenly Israel looks to have become rich in some of the most valuable raw material deposits. Several test wells show that there is radioactive material under Israel’s Negev desert and Gulliver Energy has applied for licenses to start exploration mining projects.

Moody's reiterated its A1 ratings on Israel’s domestic and foreign currency government bonds, with a "Stable" outlook. The rating is "underpinned by the country's high levels of economic, institutional and financial strength and moderate event risk.”

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development report on minority shareholder rights stated, “Israel has broadly implemented the OECD Principles relevant to the prevention of abuse of related party transactions, with one of the most elaborated systems of disclosure and review among OECD countries reviewed.”

US private equity fund Riverwood has $800 million to invest in Israeli electronics and IT companies.

Twelve students from Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis will get a chance to view Israel’s innovation up close when they visit the Jewish State in January as part of a venture advising course aimed at exploring the country’s venture capital market.

Buy-outs of Israeli medical innovators are regular events and recognise Israel’s success. This time, Florida-based Opko Health is buying Israel's FineTech Pharmaceuticals – which develops “polymorphs” – different methods to deliver drugs without infringing patents.

China is implementing two Israeli electric car programs – the Qoros electric car and the Better Place charging infrastructure. The market is for one million electric cars within four years.

The Bank of Israel's Composite State-of-the-Economy Index for February increased by 0.2 percent. It reflects increases in industrial manufacturing, goods and services exports, and in trade revenue. December and January values were revised upwards following new updates.

The partners in the Dolphin 1 field 110 kilometres west of Haifa have officially announced the discovery of natural gas. Estimates are that there is 0.55 trillion cubic feet (TCF) in the field.

Israel’s finance minister Yuval Steinitz made the offer during his visit to India. India has scrapped a planned pipeline from Iran via Pakistan due to security considerations.