(Communicated by the Ministry of Finance)

The Committee on Increasing of Competitiveness in the Economy that was appointed by the Prime Minister, the Minister of Finance and the Governor of the Bank of Israel has concluded the interim stage of the formulation of its recommendations.

Prime Minister Netanyahu said: "The committee did thorough and professional work in both studying the subject and giving real solutions. The committee's conclusions will lead to substantive changes in the Israeli economy and to the cancellation of the situation that has prevailed for decades, of involvement and major control by a few groups." 

The Minister of Finance, Dr. Yuval Steinitz, welcomed the members of the Committee and noted that this is a historical turning point in the Israeli Economy, which has the potential to bring about a real and fundamental change in the business structure of the economy that will ultimately be beneficial to all members of Israeli society.

The Chairman of the Committee, the Director General of the Ministry of Finance, Chaim Shani, added: “We are concluding a comprehensive professional study that has been performed over the duration of many months; we had met and consulted with numerous functions in Israel and overseas and I believe that the recommendations that are being presented today represent a solid infrastructure that, in the long-term, will have increased the competitiveness in Israel. It should be noted that the submission of the recommendations is only the first step of a journey and that we are currently preparing for hearing the public’s positions, after which we will finalize the recommendations and bring them to the approval of the Government.”

The Committee had been requested to examine the effect of the existing structure of the economy on the level of competition in the various sectors of the economy, on its financial stability and on its economic efficiency. The Committee has been asked to recommend advisable policy measures with emphasis on the issue of the control of real companies over financial companies, the issue of the control of a public company using a pyramid holding structure and the manner of the allocation of public assets. Based on this mandate, three work teams were appointed to review each of the said issues.

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