Nearly 4 million tourists to Israel
In the last 12 months there has been a 17% increase in tourism to the Jewish State. Cruise passenger numbers increased by 68% to 208,000 visitors.
Time is on Israel’s side
Great summary of Israel’s economy by Yoram Ettinger – ex Minister for Congressional Affairs at Israel's Embassy in Washington.
Barclays upgrades Israel high-tech stocks
Stock picks are Ceva. Ezchip, Mellanox, Amdocs and Ceragon. Each benefits from increased network traffic and storage requirements, driven by growing amounts of data.
Microsoft to invest $1 million in Technion.
Impressed with Israel Technion’s new Nobel Prize winner, Microsoft’s $1 million funding will allow the new research centre to focus on artificial intelligence, games theory, computer science, economics, and psychology and their applications in e-commerce.
Israel wins massive Chinese solar energy contract
Israel Electric Corporation is to build a $1.3 billion project of three photovoltaic solar energy arrays in northern China.
Growing agricultural knowledge in Africa
An Israeli company, Green 2000, is helping Nigeria, Chad, Angola, South Sudan, Kenya, Equatorial Guinea and Ghana become self-sufficient by teaching them agricultural techniques that can increase food production significantly.
Israel’s GDP revised upwards
Both the IMF and Israel’s own Central Bureau of Statistics have increased their estimates for Israel’s 2011 GDP. The IMF now predicts 4.8% and the CBS calculates it will be 5%.
Better air travel from Canada
Following a new agreement between El Al and WestJet, passengers will have better connections between Israel via Toronto to the rest of Canada, plus Florida and the Caribbean.
Mellanox unleashes its power
Israeli technology company Mellanox has partnered with Microsoft to boost the performance of the computer giant’s popular SQL Server database using its innovative software drivers.
Come on you bees!
US agro-chemical giant Monsanto has bought up Israeli biotech start-up Beelogics. Beelogics develops targeted biological pest and disease control solutions for bees and bee colonies.