(Communicated by the Ministry of
Finance)
The Ministry of Finance, together with The Wall Street Journal, Barrons and
the Ministry of Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs, hosted a one-day
conference in New York City discussing Israel's global impact as a leading
exporter of technologies, ideas, innovations, and entrepreneurial spirit. The
conference was moderated by the best Wall Street Journal journalists, as
top-tier guests and panelists took a deep and critical look at how to keep this
atmosphere thriving.
The Wall Street Journal is the largest daily economic newspaper in The United
States, by circulation, and is delivered daily to over two million subscribers.
With over 80% of American investors and over 50% of American decision makers
exposed to the Journal daily, it has an outstanding influence on the American
economy, making the choice of collaboration with the Ministry of Finance
natural.
The conference was held on Monday, September 10, 2012 and included a
delegation led by Dr. Yuval
Steinitz, the Israeli Minister of Finance and Acc. Doron Cohen, the Director
General of the Ministry of Finance, who will spoke and participated in panel
discussions.
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The conference hosted world economic decision makers, officials of firms
invested in Israel, private equity owners and venture capitalists as well as
global financial institutes and chief analysts. Among the keynote speakers were
Rupert Murdoch, Chairman & CEO of News Corporation, Lewis B. Kaden, Vice
Chairman of Citigroup Inc., Shai Agassi, the Founder of Better Place, and Nobel
Prize laureate economist Daniel Kahneman.
The conference, held for the first ever time this year, is expected to
attract foreign investments to Israel, displaying the attributes of its economy
to the exclusive group of officials participating.
Finance Minister Steinitz: "Why is Israel not considered an
investment opportunity? Because it is a small country - only eight million
people live here. Another reason is the geopolitical situation. However, large
corporations have been investing in Israel, such as Cisco, Google,
Microsoft,
Apple, IBM
and HP. These companies, apart from Apple, have been with us for years and now
Apple is joining them and is going to set up its first R&D center outside of
the USA in Israel. Chinese companies have also begun setting up R&D centers
in Israel.
Why is it worthwhile to invest in Israel?
- First of all we have the best human capital - Israelis always think outside
the box and therefore Israel is first in the world in startups per capita.
- Government incentives - corporate taxes for exports for firms in the Tel
Aviv region are 12% and in the periphery they might be as low as 5%, which is
the lowest tax rate in the modern world. The government constantly provides
benefits in order to encourage exports.
- In addition, the Israeli economy keeps its macro-economic framework stable,
which generates more investments in the country.
Israel is also known as a country that bounces back quickly after crises. For
example, after the 2009 crisis and in the wake of the Second Lebanon War in
2006, unemployment in Israel was as high as 9.5%; today, it stands at 6.5% in
contrast to the constant increase in unemployment in Europe."
Rupert Murdoch: "What differentiates Israel from other
countries is the creativity. Israel is successful because it is one of several
countries whose economy revolves around the human mind and it is really a light
unto the nations. Bear in mind that everything that happens in Israel happens
despite all the threats to the country."