Good News, Israel

Compliments of Anglo Rannana Real Estate

Quote for the Week

“If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange apples then you and I will still have one apple each. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas’

(George Bernard Shaw, Irish dramatist, literary critic, and socialist spokesman

[We’re not short of apples in fact we export them…to Syria of all places… in exchange for money not other apples, but we’re a veritable hothouse of ideas. See below])

* Now, we have complete confidence in the Governor of the Bank of Israel Prof. Stanley Fischer, he was, after all the captain of the ship that carried us through the recent crisis that fractured [and continues to do so] a number of economies much larger than ours. So, when the good Governor talks, we listen and he said at the CleanTech 14, 2010 Expo that opened in Tel Aviv, Tuesday [see below]: Israel has relative advantages in cleantech sectors, including innovation, entrepreneurship, human capital, R&D and it’s a veritable hot house of ideas [see Quote for the Week above], which can help Israeli companies succeed and advance in the industry. It can serve as a growth engine, and help diversify exports and export targets, which will reduce the economy’s vulnerability to crises. Cleantech can also promote Israel’s environment, reduce the country’s dependence on imported fuels, and help Israel’s integration into the OECD [The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development]. Seems that, that’s where the future lies and once again Israel is right up there amongst the very best.

* The Weizmann Institute of Science has been ranked the second best scientific institution outside the US in which to work by “The Scientist” in its ranking of “Best Places to Work: – Top 10 International Academic Institutions for 2010”, for the second consecutive year, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem is ranked fifth. No question about the fact that those two institutions are veritable hothouse[s] of ideas. This was the third time that the Weizmann Institute was ranked second.

* While strolling in the Groves of Academe we happened upon the list of doctoral graduates from Bar Ilan University – Impressive. And then we focused on the Life and Exact Sciences, the latter consisting of Mathematics, physics, chemistry and computer science – more impressive. There are 75 doctorates and if we include Brain Science – a relatively new discipline it pushes the total number up to 83, really impressive. But now comes the kicker folks, of the 83 new doctors 48 are ladies, nearly 60% of the total. How many future Nobel laureates are amongst them? – only time will tell. Bravo Bar Ilan. Brava, the ladies. Saudi Arabia, beat that if you can.

* Some countries do big things in a big way, like China for instance. How can they miss, with a population of 1.5 billion people [add at least 200 to that as you read]? On a visit to Israel last week the Chinese minister of tourism said that they will be constructing 1,000 additional five-star hotels in the next five years and training professional manpower in foreign languages in order to reach 100 million tourists in the near future. Other countries, on the other hand, do small things in a big way like Israel for example. Tourism minister Misezhnikov noted that one of the targets was to bring tens of thousands of tourists from China every year by easing visa restrictions. China is the world’s biggest outgoing tourism market, with 46 million tourists p.a. So where do we start? In Bat Yam that’s where. Three new hotels are being built along the coast there, turning the city into Israel’s new tourism Riviera. Sounds like GN to us.

* We’ve looked at the best [almost] now let’s have a glance at the biggest: Israeli company Makhteshim Agan Industries Ltd. has acquired US company Albaugh Inc. for about a billion US dollars and will become the largest producer of generic crop protection products in the world. Albaugh Inc. is a leading company in the US, and in Mexico, Argentina, and Brazil which gives the firm a worldwide client spread.

* Israel will have the world’s largest company for burn and chronic wound treatments, following a merger deal between Clal Biotechnology Industries Ltd. MediWound Ltd. and Polyheal Ltd. Mediwound has developed a product called Debrase Gel Dressing [we reported on Debrase in GN 18 06 10], for the treatment of second and third degree burns. The product is undergoing a Phase III clinical trial. Polyheal has developed novel microsphere-based wound care technology for treating chronic wounds, such as skin ulcers, burns, trauma, and post-surgery wounds. Clal Biotech cites a report, which estimates the global market for wound treatments at over $9 billion a year, but that apart, reducing the frightening results of wounds left untreated or incorrectly handled and alleviating the pain and suffering they cause is GN indeed.

* As we never tire of telling you, Teva Pharmaceuticals is the biggest manufacturer of generic drugs in the world [with an ever increasing portfolio of proprietary drugs to go with them]. Generics are as effective as the originals but are cheaper and are thus more readily available to patients particularly in poorer countries and that’s GN

* And then there is Yossi, born, bred and living the life of Reilly in the Ramat Gan Safari Park. Yossi is the largest elephant in captivity in the world. When we asked the elephant keeper at the Biblical Zoo –where they only have Asian members of the species, smaller and on a good day, more docile than their African cousins – whether he had any comment on Yossi he said somewhat taciturnly; he is big, very big and you can quote me on that. So there we are our big things in a big way, the biggest in the world in fact.

* The number of unemployed fell by 0.6% to 191,700 in May 2010 [the latest figure available] from 192,800 in April, the Israel National Employment Service reported Tuesday. May was the 11th straight month in which unemployment declined. The number of people entering the workforce rose by 2.1% to 19,400, continuing the growth of previous months.

* The CleanTech 14, 2010 Expo [see above] that closed Wednesday in Tel Aviv saw participation by representatives from all over the world discussing such enlightening topics as renewable energy and green buildings. On display were plants that can purify soil polluted by carbon fuels, walls that generate ‘clean electricity, cacti that can be used as fuel and much else. The march towards cleaning up the Globe and keeping it that way is on and, as we said above, Israel is right in the forefront of the parade.

* The quintessential Zionist enterprise of the ingathering and integrating of Jews found its expression in the IAF pilots’ graduation this week. This elite group broke a new record with one-fifth of them born outside of Israel, about a third of the graduates speak a foreign language as their mother tongue with fifteen percent being English speakers, and a further 18% speaking Russian, French and Danish as their home languages. They also included a brother and sister to add a family touch. He as a combat helicopter pilot and she as a pilot of UAV’s [Unmanned – does that mean in this case they are womanned? No, not really – Aerial Vehicles]. These young men and women are committed to serving their country for many years to come and that’s GN.