Israel Trade Commission website

ISRAEL TRADE COMMISSION Commercial News from Israel March 2006

SUCCESS STORIES AGRITECH 2006 IT INFRASTRUCTURE & INVESTMENT TELECOMMUNICATIONS MEDICAL SECURITY & DEFENCE SPACE EXHIBITIONS IN ISRAEL Israel Trade Commission 6/37 York Street Sydney, NSW 2000 Tel: +61-2-9262 3943 Fax: +61-2-9262 5242 E: info@israeltrade.org.au

Dear friends and colleagues, Prof Stanley Fischer, the Governor of the Bank of Israel and Dr. Yossi Bachar the Director General of the Ministry of finance visited Australia last week. Their visit was part of a Road Show of the Israeli economy in Australia, following the major reforms that have taken place in Israel's capital Markets and tax systems. Israel is currently scouting for markets to diversify it's investment portfolio and has many opportunities for investments in technological areas, infrastructure as well as opportunities in the capital and financial markets. The visit included meetings with Financial institutions, investment banks and funds as well as with the Government, at both Federal and State levels. We are currently exploring the possibilities of planning a road show of the Australian economy and opportunities, in Israel and we look forward to an increase in the level of activity between the two countries. Please feel free to contact us for any assistance required. Nili Shalev Israel Trade Commissioner

STANLEY FISCHER & YOSSI BACHAR VISIT AUSTRALIA

Mr. Stephen Loosley & Prof. Stanley Fischer Mrs. Nili Shalev, Mrs. Jillian Segel, Mr. Robert Magid & Dr. Yossi Bachar

Photos taken at an Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce event hosted by Citigroup

SUCCESS STORIES

AUSTRALIA COMPANY GANDEL TO BUY 89.7% OF ELGO IRRIGATION

The Gandel Group, owned by chairman John Gandel, has signed an MOU with Haifa Chemicals Ltd. to acquire 89.7% of Elgo Irrigation for NIS 45 million. The deal is subject to due diligence.

Elgo Irrigation makes garden irrigation products for the home and public sectors. The company’s products are sold in Israel and Europe. In 2005, Gandel, Australia’s largest private investment company, acquired 50% of Plastro Irrigation Systems and Palad Infrastructure and Pipes Ltd. for NIS 61.5 million.

Gandel’s new investment was part of the company’s strategy to create an investment group in Israel’s water industry, with the aim of creating business synergy between its subsidiaries.

STRATEGIC DEALS FOR TIS, TOTALING OVER $2 MILLION

Top Image Systems, the leading innovator of data capture solutions, announced that the Australian Department of Defence has chosen to extend eFLOW3 to provide the capability to use the technology within other functions of the Department.

For the past two years, the Australian Department of Defence has been a customer of TIS, through its partnership with CSC Australia. The Department has been using eFLOW to capture and convert invoices into electronic business content as the first part of a wider initiative to improve the overall administrative functions and processes.

Recently, the system was upgraded to eFLOW3, the latest version of TIS' signature software. This will allow the Department to extend eFLOW system to its human resources, personal files, and medical record applications as well as additional AP functions. It will process up to 30 million images a year, including structured, semi-structured or unstructured, from any origin, electronic or physical paper.

AGRITECH 2006

The 16th International Agricultural Exhibition, in Tel Aviv, May 9-11, 2006. Tomorrow's agriculture - today! For more information please contact the Israel Trade Commission directly.
BIO-DIESEL SEEDS: A new agricultural branch will be unveiled at the Agritech 2006 international agricultural show, to be held at the Tel Aviv Fairgrounds in Israel: growing plants bearing seeds for producing bio-diesel fuel to operate diesel-powered vehicles and machinery. This innovative new crop possesses huge economic potential, in the tens of billions of dollars, following the dramatic rise in oil prices over the past year. The new agricultural crop is being developed by the Hovav Agriculture Company, which has a great deal of experience in international agricultural projects.
COW MICROPHONE: A revolutionary device developed by SCR Ltd. of Netanya will be unveiled at Agritech 2006. The microphone will provide dairy farmers with current information about the state of health of every cow in the herd: Through it, the farmer will receive information about any change in the cow’s health that is liable to harm its milk yield, quality, or in extreme cases even to endanger its life.
ROBOMOW: Tired of having to mow the lawn yourself and devoting precious leisure time to maintaining it? Paying the gardener high fees to keep the grass in good shape? A new Israeli invention is the answer to your problem: Introducing, Robomow. Robomow, the automatic lawnmower is the brainchild of Israel-based Friendly Robotics. Robomow is meant for any home lawn, of any size and shape.

IT

NESS OPENS IN AUSTRALIA

Ness Technologies specializes in the design and deployment of leading-edge information management solutions, supplied by an infrastructure of global resources. Ness Technologies is a leading international provider of comprehensive end-to-end IT services and solutions. Ness offers a unique global delivery model of innovative, high-quality, value-added services that enable organizations to attain sustainable competitive advantage. Ness Technologies is proud to count some of the world's leading companies as their clients. 

Ness has recently opened a local office in Australia. For any further information, please contact the Country Manager, Sat Mishra sat.mishra@ness-gsg.com

GOOGLE OUTLINES PLANS FOR ISRAEL

GOOGLE has launched its Israeli operations. The web searcher believes it will take around 18 months to have most of its services translated into Hebrew and by then it will likely have an R&D operation set up in Israel.

Israelis conduct more web searches than other countries. Whilst in the US 40 per cent of all web-based advertising is on search engines, in Israel the figure is only 15 per cent.The company was swayed to open an R&D facility in Israel because of the "quantity and quality" of software engineers in the country.

When Google announced the establishment of Google Israel, it also said it would shortly launch a Hebrew-language version of Google news. The Beta version of the news service is now on air. It will incorporate news on a wide range of topics, which it will syndicate from various Hebrew language news sites in Israel.

INFRASTRUCTURE & INVESTMENT

CITY PASS TO BEGIN LAYING JERUSALEM LINE WITHIN MONTHS

Jerusalem Mass Transit System light railway project franchisee City Pass will begin laying tracks for the first light railway line in Jerusalem within two months. Work will begin on several sections simultaneously.

The track laying will be preceded by the excavation of 1.2 meter deep channel whose base will be stabilized by a layer of concrete. he commencement of work had caused a dramatic revival in demand for real estate which was now breaking records.

INTEL BEGINS BUILDING ITS FAB 28 PLANT IN SOUTHERN ISRAEL AT A RECORD $3.5B INVESTMENT

Intel began construction of its Fab 28 plant in Kiryat Gat. The "Fab 28" project will be Intel's third plant in Israel. The company has a plant in Jerusalem and runs R&D centers in Yakum, Jerusalem and Petah Tikva. The new chip plant is expectedto employ approximately 2,000 workers directly and another 2,500 indirectly.

The company also announced exports of $1.19 billion from Israel in 2005, a 1.8% increase from 2004. The new plant is scheduled to open in 2008.

DALIA POWER TO BUILD $220M POWER PLAN IN KIBBUTZ MAAYAN

Dalia Power Energies will build a $220 million private power station in northern Israel. Jointly owned by Hiram-Epsilon Ltd. and the United Kibbutz Movement, Dalia Energy is negotiating with Egypt’s Eastern Mediterranean Gas and Israel’s Yam Thetis for supplies of natural gas.

The power station is planned to be built on Kibbutz Maayan land at the base of Mt. Carmel. The power station will generate 500 megawatts, and can achieve maximum capacity of 800 MW. Dalia Power expects to begin operating the power station in late 2008.

TELECOMMUNICATIONS

DEUTSCHE TELEKOM ESTABLISHES 1ST RESEARCH INSTITUTE OUTSIDE OF GERMANY AT BEN GURION UNIVERSITY

Deutsche Telecom signed a landmark agreement to establish the Deutsche Telecom Laboratories at Ben-Gurion University in Be'er Sheva. This marks the first time the telecom powerhouse has established an R&D site outside of Germany. The company committed to invest $12.1 million over the next two years in the research institute.

"There is no question that Israel is one of the best locations in the world for innovation in the areas of IT and communications," Deutsche Telecom CEO Kai-Uwe Ricke said.

CABLE AND WIRELESS EXPANDS AGREEMENT WITH CVIDYA

cVidya Networks Inc., a supplier of advanced revenue assurance solutions, announced that communications giant Cable and Wireless was expanding its cooperation with the company. Industry sources estimated that the new contract could be worth $3 million.

Under the contract, cVidya will provide usage based revenue assurance solutions for C&W's main network operations in the UK and its 34 subsidiaries around the globe. Under a four-year contract signed in September 2005, cVidya already deployed its MoneyMap configuration based revenue assurance solution for C&W's data and mobile services. At the time, industry sources estimated the initial contract to be worth $1.75 million.

Under the expanded contract, cVidya will supply C&W with a comprehensive solution for all of its networks and types of services, including wireless networks.

MEDICAL

TEVA TO COLLABORATE WITH NST ON CANCER TREATMENT

Teve Pharmaceutical Industries has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with NeroSurvival Technologies (NST) of Petah Tikva for the development of a new treatment for cancer.

The technology is based on the development of new molecular complexes, in turn based on original technology developed by NST, called ApoSense. The technology enables anti-cancer drugs to reach cancerous tissue selectively, to bind to the apoptotic (dying) cell membrane and enter and accumulate within the cell. This development is expected to make cancer treatments more effective, and to reduce the side effects that they involve.

PHARMACEUTICAL EXPORTS GREW 800% IN LAST DECADE

Israeli pharmaceutical exports grew 800% over the past decade, more than exports by any other industry. Exports grew 40% in 2005, the same rate as over the past five years, to $2.51 billion. Total industrial exports rose by 4.5-5% in 2005 and 17.6% in 2004.

SECURITY & DEFENCE

RADA WINS $4.5M BOEING SUBCONTRACT

Rada Electronic Industries was awarded a contract by Smiths Aerospace - Digital Systems - Information Systems, to provide Boeing and the US Navy with digital video recorder and processor (DVRP) systems for its trainer aircraft. The program includes potential delivery of over 240 units. RADA is an Israel-based company involved in the military and commercial aerospace industries.

Smiths and RADA estimate that the over 10,000 VTRs that are currently installed on various aircraft will be replaced by digital recorders before the aircraft, in which they are installed, are retired.

FORTUNE 500 COMPANIES AND FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS VISIT ISRAEL FOR TERROR_FIGHTING TIPS

Terror is no longer just about the Middle East: it has become the world's problem. And in their efforts to stay one step ahead of the game, many countries are trying to learn as much as they can from Israel.

Last month, some of the world's largest companies and most powerful governments sent representatives to Israel to learn from the country's counter-terrorism experts. About half of the special delegation was from the US, with eleven additional countries participating, including the Netherlands, Australia, Bahamas, Greece, Singapore, and Canada.

For seven days, the delegation, which included participants from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and companies like Microsoft and Oracle, got an insider's tour of Israel's mass transit hubs and high-security locations. The group also attended a conference that showcased some of the country's most innovative and relevant security technologies companies.

SPACE

ISRAEL AND FRANCE TO COLLABORATE ON STRATEGIC SPACE PROJECT

The Israel Space Agency and the French space organization Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) have agreed to launch the joint Venus Vegetation and Environment Monitoring new micro-satellite program. The Venus micro-satellite, intended for gathering information regarding water quality, air, and land sources, represents a breakthrough for the Israel Space Agency, both in terms of its large financial investment of almost $50 million and the technological innovation required for such an exact micro-satellite system.

EXHIBITIONS IN ISRAEL

The 9th International Laboratory Equipment & Biotechnology Exhibition February 2007 Tel-Aviv Fairgrounds
Biomed Israel 2006 Biotechnology & Medical Devices Jerusalem, May 29-31, 2006.
The 10th International Exhibition for Industrial Processing in Israel February 2007 Tel-Aviv Fairgrounds
IsraWinExpo The 1st International Exhibition of Wines Tel Aviv Exhibition Center June 13-15, 2006
AgriTech The 16th International Agricultural Exhibition, in Tel Aviv, May 9-11, 2006. Tomorrow's agriculture - today!
Plasto Ispack Visit The Gateway to Plastics, Rubber & Packaging Innovations. The 11th International Exhibition. September 11-14, 2006
The 3rd International Jewelry Exhibition in Israel June 27-28- 2006, David Intercontinental Hotel, Tel-Aviv