"ISRAEL ON THE MOVE" NZITA Newsletter

Following you will find the latest edition of "ISRAEL ON THE MOVE", the New Zealand-Israel Trade Association newsletter, published four times a year.

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ISRAEL ON THE MOVE - june 1997, Issue No. 5

This year, for the first time, Israel will be represented at the NZ National Fieldays at Mystery Creek. The Israeli stand will be located in the Ag Technology and Security Theme Area and will feature information on Israel's agricultural sector and leading agrotechnology companies.

There has been considerable interest by Israel and nearly 40 companies have sent in material to be displayed and distributed to visitors at Mystery Creek. The stand will also feature a searchable database, and videos on Israel's Agritech Exhibitions.

Trade Commissioner, Amiram Halevy, will present a seminar explaining Israel's achievements in agriculture and how the Israeli farmer succeeds through adopting technology and through partnerships with R & D organisations.

Key areas featured at the stand will include consultancy services, irrigation and fertigation equipment, organic and chemical fertilizers, seeds and plant varieties, plant protection, greenhouses, dairy equipment, poultry and aquaculture. There will also be information on exciting innovations such as easy-peel avocados, naturally-coloured cotton (irrigated by recycled water), and fruit-picking robots.

The stand will feature material on the following Israeli organisations:®

Agrekal (growing mixes)

Albaad (dairy wipes)

Arava (ag consultancy)

Ashot Ashkelon (automotive equipment)

Azrom (greenhouses)

Bickel (flowers)

Bromine Compounds (soil fumigation chemicals)

Dagan (turneky greenhouse projects)

E. Nachmad (veterinary syringes)

Eli Megides (ag machinery / tractor broker)

Gavish Software (greenhouse control systems)

Ginosar (tissue culture)

Giyo International (plant varieties)

Israel Dairy Board

Kabir Chicks (chicken breeding)

MIL (irrigation valves)

Mottes (tensionometers)

KLA (packaging machinery)

Lin's Bee Farm(bee products)

Mega Agriculture (ag consultancy)

Metzerplas (irrigation)

NGB (food machinery/conveying equipment)

Nirit (seeds)

Orgil (greenhouses)

Plasgad (plastic containers)

Plasson (irrigation)

Revivim (flowers)

Sayag (flowers)

ShanyRay (irrigation, fertigation, control systems)

StePac LA (produce packaging)

Tama Plastic (ag plastics)

Tandi Agriculture (ag consultancy)

Yamit (filtration/irrigation)

Zakai (ag consultancy)

Zenovar (ag consultancy)

Zinkal (greenhouses)

The Fieldays Stand will be run by the Embassy of Israel in conjunction with the Hamilton Branch of the New Zealand Friends of Israel Association, which held an Israel stand at Fieldays in 1990, and the NZITA.

The NZITA warmly invites you to attend one of the world's premier® agriculture shows and to visit the "Israel's Agrotechnology" stand - site G 15, Ag Technology, Safety & Security Theme Area.

Official NZ - Israel trade statistics reached unprecedented levels during the first quarter of 1997. From January to March, New Zealand imports from Israel totaled $26 million, well over 4 times higher than for the same period last year. New Zealand exports to Israel, while substantially lagging behind imports, grew strongly to $1.2 million for the first quarter.

The main contributors to exports from Israel were electrical equipment ($15 million) and chemical products ($5.5 million). Plastics, mineral products, textiles, base metals and diamonds also featured prominently. Major imports from New Zealand included base metals, pharmaceuticals, and agricultural and food products.

The figures mirror the growing awareness of the opportunities in bilateral trade. It is not known to what extent the official figures understate the actual level of trade, due to flows of goods through third countries. This is an inevitable result of greater globalisation of business in both countries.

It is clear, however, that the trade imbalance has grown to extreme levels, and that New Zealand exporters should be encouraged to further explore the possibilities in the Israeli market.

Opportunities for New Zealand exporters to penetrate the Israeli and Middle East markets have grown with the New Zealand Trade Development Board (Tradenz) establishing representation in Israel.

The Israel - Australia, New Zealand and Oceania Chamber of Commerce in Tel-Aviv will provide services to New Zealand businesses on behalf of Tradenz. The Chairman of the Chamber is Gurion Meltzer, Chairman of Bezeq, the Israel Telecom Corporation. Mr Meltzer was the leader of an Israeli Trade Mission which visited New Zealand last July.

On May 26, 74 people attended a seminar on New Zealand hosted by the Israel - Australia, New Zealand and Oceania Chamber of Commerce. Participants included Ian Kennedy - New Zealand's Ambassador in Turkey who is accredited to Israel, Tim Sheperd - Tradenz Regional Manager, and Elmar Toime - Chief Executive of NZ Post.

Gurion Meltzer, Chairman of the Chamber welcomed the guests and expressed his desire to see a Tradenz representative posted in Israel® as well as permanent diplomatic representation.

Dr Amnon Mandelbaum, Managing Director, Poalim Capital Investments, and former head of research at the BNZ in Wellington, gave an overall perspective of the New Zealand economy and where he saw opportunities.

Dr Joseph Hadass, International Consultant, Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce gave a speech on trade implications of the peace process.

H.E. Ian Kennedy made his presentation on the New Zealand economy, and was followed by Hillel Legman, Regional Manager of Ormat. Mr. Legman spoke of succesful cooperation between Israel & New Zealand, presenting his firm's activities as a case study. He also announced signing of $100m contract for a geothermal turbine.

Tim Sheperd, Regional Manager, Tradenz spoke of New Zealand export potential, and potential for joint cooperation.

Elmar Toime, CEO, New Zealand Post, commented on his view of an Israel ethic to "get things done". He also explained how New Zealand was a classic example how deregulation can work well.

Amir Makov, Chairman, Israel Export Institute gave a general perspective of trade trends.

Alexander Guttman, Regional Manager of Zim explained how shipping routes between New Zealand and Israel did not present a great a problem as some people thought.

Yitzhaq Sarig, Managing Director, Optimum Ltd presented a case study of export trading company.

Finally, Yoram Hirschler, Managing Director, Euromart (Representatives of Air New Zealand) spoke about Air New Zealand and air routes available.

Baron Katranski, Executive Director of the Chamber later said that he found the seminar goundbraeking and informative. The function was sponsored by Bank Hapoalim and Air New Zealand.

At the Israel Trade Awards function in 1995, the guest speaker, John McConnell, Senior General Manager of Australian Banking at ANZ Banking Group, told of his bank's intention to open a branch in Jerusalem. Approximately a year after applying, the ANZ has become the first foreign bank to be granted a license to open in East Jerusalem.

According to a Bank of Israel spokesman ANZ's strength on the ground and depth of local knowledge in 43 countries made it an ideal partner for Israeli and Palestinian businesses. The ANZ has been lifting its profile in syndicated lending in the Middle East, particularly with infrastructure projects.

Israel's Ormat Industries is a world-leader in environmentally-friendly power generation. For 30 years it has been developing geothermal, solar and heat recovery power technologies and has installations in over 55 countries including New Zealand.

With two geothermal plants already operating near Whakatane, last year Ormat was awarded a $US 27 million turnkey contract by Power New Zealand for steamfield and power station equipment for development of the Rotokawa geothermal field in Taupo. The plant will soon be completed and will have an initial output of 20 megawatts.

Recently Ormat signed a $14 million contract with joint venture partners Top Energy and the Tai Tokerau Maori Trust Board for generating plant for the Ngawha geothermal field in Northland. The Ngawha project is expected to produce 10 megawatts a year and meet around one-third of the Far North's electricity needs.

Hillel Legman, Ormat's Regional Manager has recently announcrd the signing of $100 million deal for further power generation in the Taupo area.

On April 2, the Plastics Institute of New Zealand (PINZ), in conjunction with the NZITA an the Embassy of Israel, held a presentation on Israel's plastics and packaging industries.

The seminar was presented by Amir Gissin, First Secretary at the Embassy, at the Auckland Manufacturers' Association offices. Mr. Gissin outlined the growth and success of the industries in Israel, including sales in the Australian market. He also spoke about the upcoming Palsto-Ispack Exhibition in Tel-Aviv.

Senior executives of 10 New Zealand plastics companies accounting for the majority of New Zealand production and exports attended the seminar. Particluar interest was shown by participants in the areas of joint ventures and specialty products.

The seminar was organised through the cooperation of Ezra Karon of the NZITA and Bruce Meldrum, Chief Excutive of PINZ. It follows on from Mr. Meldrum's meeting last November with Trade Commissioner Amiram Halevy-Laher and Embassy Trade Officer, Dimitri Geidelberg.

This is the first function the NZITA has held at the Manufacturers' Association, and future cooperation is envisioned.

Several New Zealand organisation have already indicated that they will be sending reprsentatives to Palsto-Ispack. If you would like to know about the exhibition please contact the NZITA.

Two Israeli companies were awarded first prizes in the annual Byte Magazine "Best of the Show Awards" at CeBit '97 in Hannover, Germany during March.

Orkit was awarded its prize in the category of Best Communications Hardware for its fast Internet x DSL Broadband Access System which eases the Net bandwidth crunch.

WizCom was the winner in the category of Best Peripheral product for its Quicktionary - a pen sized scanner that performs language translation.

Another Israeli company, Scitex, was a finalist in the Best Multimedia Software category for its Metatool Soap, a video editing tool with an innovative user interface.

Computers in Education - International exhibition of computer hardware and software for education professionals and administrators, June 30 - July 1

Tel-Aviv Security Israel '97 - 11th international security, protection, military, police and civil defence congress and exhibition, July 1-3 Tel-Aviv

Modern Living '97 - International exhibition of consumer goods, entertainment and culture, July 9-19

Tel-Aviv Studies '97 - International exhibition of overseas and local private schools and educational institutions - all fields, July 24-26, Tel-Aviv

H/T expo - International exhibition on technology and productivity for the electronics and high tech industries

Palsto-Ispack '97 - 7th international exhibition for plastics, rubber and packaging, September 15-18, Tel-Aviv®

FIS - International exhibition on computers and office equipment,® November 3-6, Tel-Aviv®

Medax - International exhibition on hospital supplies and medical technology, December 1-4, Tel-Aviv