Israel at 50 - Economic Achievements
by Moshe Felber
(May 1998)
The achievements of the Israeli economy in the country's first 50 years
are no less impressive or fascinating than those in any other area of
Israeli history. These achievements - especially those in the early years
of the state - have amazed economic experts worldwide. From the very
beginning, the country faced awesome challenges. The fledgling country
found itself in a brutal war of existence and, at the same time, hundreds
of thousands of refugees from the Holocaust in Europe and from persecution
in Arab lands were knocking at the door of the newborn state, which did
not even have enough tents to house them, let alone food to feed them.
These challenges were enough to crush economies larger and stronger than
that of Israel, which then was a country with a population of about
650,000 people living in an area of less than 8000 square miles (nearly
21,000 km2), most of it desert and rocky mountain.
Looking back, it seems that the history of the Israeli economy - like that
of Israel, in general - has been a story of recurring dangers and crises
threatening to destroy it. The economy's success in rescuing itself from
all these crises, emerging each time stronger than it had been previously,
is perhaps its biggest achievement. Each of the achievements described
below, and it is not possible to list them all, is important in its own
right. However, it is when they are considered together that they
constitute building blocks in the country's main economic achievement:
Israel's current economic strength, as testified to by its membership in
the group of 20 countries with the highest per capita national income in
the world, and Israel's return in the 90s to the group of countries with
the world's highest rates of economic growth.
Meeting the Quadruple Challenge
Two of the four main challenges that faced the Israeli economy for most of
its existence, the security burden and immigrant absorption, have already
been mentioned. The two other major challenges that the economy has had to
face have been the need to build a physical infrastructure for the
economy's activity and to provide welfare services (health, education and
assistance of various types) for a population growing at a rate greater
than its ability to contribute to its own welfare. Each one of these four
challenges, on its own, is a difficult test that would require strict
discipline on the part of any ordinary economy to be handled successfully.
However, the ability to meet all four of these challenges simultaneously
borders on the miraculous and, indeed, at the end of the country's first
decade of existence, economists often referred to Israel's "economic
miracle". Before this "miracle" is explained, each of these four
challenges must be addressed.
Security
The security burden is a constant factor in the Israeli economy. Such a
burden was understandable and to be expected in the years when wars took
place (the War of Independence in 1948/49, the Sinai Campaign in 1956, the
Six-Day War in 1967, the Yom Kippur War in 1973 and the Lebanon War in
1982). But even during other years, Israel was burdened by
security-related pressures. At times, this took the form of wars of
attrition following the aforementioned wars. During other periods, the
main threat was various forms of terrorism along and within Israel's
borders - terrorism supported by Israel's neighbors.
This situation called for constant vigilance, the maintenance of forces to
ensure security along Israel's borders and on the home front and
continuous training of the army reserves which serve as the backbone of
the army during times of war. It also required Israel to continuously
obtain the latest technological innovations in order to allow the Israeli
army (which is small relative to the armies of the neighboring countries
who always saw Israel as their enemy) to successfully stand up to those
who attacked it. The mere existence of this strong, though small army
served as a deterrent, causing Israel's foes to abandon belligerent
intentions. These security necessities were costly.
The economic burden of Israel's security needs is best expressed in terms
of the percentage of the GNP spent on defense. While in most Western
countries this percentage ranges from 1% to 3% (and the United States was
considered to have a "war economy" when this figure reached 9% at the peak
of the Vietnam War), in Israel this percentage rose from an average of 10%
during the first nineteen years of the country's existence to 25% after
1967, and then reached a peak of 45% [!] during the Yom Kippur War in
1973. This ratio began to drop only after peace agreements were reached
with Egypt (1978) and Jordan (1994), and after these borders - Israel's
two longest - proved to be calm. In the present decade, the percentage of
the GNP spent on defense has fallen further thanks to the faster growth of
the GNP, from 13.1% in 1990 to 9.5% in 1996.
Immigrant Absorption
There are many countries worldwide that have taken in a great deal of
immigrants, but it is doubtful that there is any other country that
doubled its original population within three years (by 1951) as a result
of immigration. The immigrants that came to Israel were not young,
educated people with capital or a profession - the kind preferred by most
countries. Rather, these were primarily refugees from the Nazi death camps
in Europe (most of whom were broken in body and spirit) and, later on,
immigrants from the developing countries of Asia and Africa.
By 1997, more than 2.6 million immigrants had come to Israel, with the
overwhelming majority arriving during the first two decades of the
country's existence. This number is four times the amount of Jews that
lived here at the time of the establishment of the state. The absorption
of these immigrants necessitated tremendous resources, from shelter (tents
in the early years, followed by shacks, caravans and small apartments and
then larger ones - all according to the country's economic ability at the
time), and education, health and welfare services (including buildings for
the provision of these services) to vocational training and the creation
of jobs. A very large proportion of the public expenditure was allocated
for this task.
Economic Infrastructure
In "ordinary" countries, the economic infrastructure - roads, railroads,
ports, airports, water carriers and sewage removal, electricity generation
stations and lines for delivering electricity and communication systems -
was built over the course of the history of the national economy, at the
rate of development of their economies. However, after 400 years of
Ottoman rule, the land of Israel was a backward territory. While there was
significant improvement in this area during the 30 years of the British
mandate, the infrastructure inherited by the State of Israel was
minimal.
In order to create a modern economy, capable of absorbing millions of
immigrants in productive labor, first and foremost in industry, it was
necessary to set up a suitable physical infrastructure, starting almost
from scratch. In addition, in the absence of accumulated capital - either
private, from previous generations, or imported from outside - the public
purse had to finance the establishment of economic enterprises in this
land of refugee immigrants. After all, even among those who lived in
Israel prior to the establishment of the state, 80% were the first or
second generation of immigrant families. Obviously, reaching these
objectives called for large amounts of money.
Welfare
This requires a great deal of public resources in all countries. However,
in Israel's case, the resources required were even greater. This was not
because the needs of immigrants were greater, but also because it became
clear by the end of the 60s that it would be necessary to make efforts to
rescue from poverty quite a few of the immigrant families that had arrived
during the early years of the state. As a result of the lack of funds
available when these immigrants arrived in Israel, their physical and
social absorption had not always been successful. Thus, the Israeli
economy had to allocate resources to deal with a variety of issues in the
areas of housing, education, health and social rehabilitation. Again, this
cost much more than the country could allow itself from an economic point
of view.
The ability to simultaneously meet the four challenges described above
constitutes an impressive economic achievement of the Israeli economy,
second only to its ultimate achievement of establishing a strong
flourishing economy.
The Economic Miracle
This achievement entailed, or at least so it would seem, contravening a
law of economic theory (based on the principle of the "scarcity of
resources") - allowing the consumption of only as much as is produced -
because throughout Israel's existence the economy has used more resources
than it produced, despite the rapid growth in its national product. In
national accounts terms, this is illustrated by the fact that the value of
Israel's imports has constantly been greater than the value of its
exports. It was only due to the ability to finance this deficit (the
annual difference between imports and exports) that the Israeli economy
was able to meet all of the challenges cited above. How did it do this?
Basically, it financed this annual deficit through tremendous financial
assistance that the country succeeded in raising around the world. The
annual trade deficit increased from $220 million in 1949 to about $12.9
billion in 1996 (all in nominal terms). Each year, the Israeli Finance
Minister would recruit resources to cover this annual deficit. A small
portion of this money came in the form of investments by foreigners in
businesses in Israel; an even smaller amount came from pensions and other
income from abroad of individuals in Israel; a significant amount came
from appeals organized by Jewish institutions, and a large part came in
the form of loans from individuals (primarily in the framework of Israel
Bonds), banks and governments. More than half of the required amount came
from grants from friendly governments (first and foremost, the United
States). Over the years, this imported capital - to cover the annual
deficits in foreign currency - has totaled more than $120 billion (in
nominal terms).
Growth of the National Product
Growth - producing more and more - is of great importance to any national
economy, as, indeed, it is to every individual and family. This is because
the more that is produced, the more resources the country as a whole and
individuals have to use to satisfy their varied needs and wants. Since it
is people that are behind production, the more people active in a private
or national economy, the greater the product. However, more important than
the number of people participating (the size of the economy's work force),
is the equipment available to them for performing their work. The more
sophisticated this equipment, the more can be produced. This equipment can
take the form of work tools, fields, animals, machines, or even education.
What is common to all these is that they can be purchased with money.
Thus, the more capital an individual (or an economy) has, the more and
better equipment they will have, and, thus, the greater their product will
be.
Those who referred to what was happening in the Israeli economy as an
"economic miracle" were not amazed by the fact that it successfully met
the challenges described above, nor by the ability to raise resources
worldwide for this purpose. Most of these economists were not even aware
of this. Rather, what amazed them were the statistics that Israel
recorded: an unprecedented achievement of rapid growth of the national
product over the period of a generation, with an average rate of 10% in
the years 1948-1973. There have been economies with higher growth rates,
just as there were economies that maintained long periods of growth. But
there was no other country that was able to maintain such high growth
rates over so long a period.
Thus, we can now appreciate the nature of the "miracle": the rare
combination that took place in Israel of rapid growth of the work force,
as a result of mass immigration, and a massive influx of capital that the
country succeeded in raising. Each wave of immigration, whose initial
absorption represented an economic burden on the Israeli economy, turned
into a blessing when these immigrants joined the circle of production -
thereby contributing towards increasing the national product - in a
relatively short period of time, thanks to the capital that could be made
available for this purpose.
The rapid growth that characterized the country's first twenty-five years
came to an end with the Yom Kippur War in 1973, due, among other things,
to the drop in the rate of growth of the population. The average annual
number of immigrants to Israel fell from about 42,000 in the years
1970-1973 to about 22,500 in the remaining years of the decade, and to
about 12,500 in the 80s. The growth rate of the national product dropped
accordingly, falling to an average of 3.6% in the remaining years of the
70s and 3% in the 80s. Then, the collapse of the Soviet regime led to the
opening of the gates of the former USSR for Jews who wished to emigrate
and they came to Israel at a rate reminiscent of the early years of the
state. Again, proof was provided for the Israeli link between immigration
and economic growth, the latter doubling to an average rate of about 6% -
the highest rate of growth in the Western world in the first half of the
90s.
Exports
The rapid growth of the national product allowed the Israeli economy to
register another important achievement, an increase by a factor of many
hundreds in the export of goods and services, from $41 million in 1949 to
$31.3 billion in 1996 - reaching the highest per capita exports in the
industrial world. Even after allowing for inflation's effect on the
American dollar (amounting to a fall of 7.874 times in the years
1948-1995), there is still a 97-fold real increase in Israeli exports over
the years of its existence. Furthermore, it is clear that the national
product could not have grown as fast as it did, had a large part of the
increase in manufacturing not been earmarked for export.
The single firm strives to increase its exports in order to expand
business and increase profits. But from the point of view of the economy
as a whole, the importance of increasing the country's exports lies in the
desire to achieve economic "independence" or viability - a situation in
which the foreign currency received for exports is sufficient to pay for
all the goods and services that are imported. On this front, too, the
Israeli economy has recorded significant achievements: While in 1950,
income from exports financed only 14% of the country's imports, this
figure increased to 51% in 1960, 73% in 1980, and 78% in 1990.
Unemployment
The ills of unemployment are not limited to the economic and
morale-related effects on the individual and his family. Unemployment also
affects the economy as a whole. Non-involvement in production represents a
total waste: the economy can never recover the product lost for every day
of unemployment. It is a serious problem that the industrialized nations
face, and an even greater problem in countries in the midst of a
transition to industrialization. One almost always finds a clear
correlation between high rates of unemployment and low rates of economic
growth.
Obviously, waves of immigration bring with them a certain degree of
unemployment - very few immigrants find work immediately after arriving in
their new country. Thus, most of the immigrants who came to Israel had to
endure periods of unemployment, some longer, some shorter, before finding
work.
The situation of relatively rapid growth in periods of massive immigration
indicates that most of the immigrants were unemployed for only a short
time. Accelerated growth of the national product in itself indicates an
increase in the number of people employed. The comparatively quick
absorption of tens of thousands of immigrants into the labor force is
another noteworthy achievement of the Israeli economy.
The unemployment rate in Israel rose from 7% in 1950 to a high of 11.3% in
1953. This was the only year in the history of Israel that the national
product decreased. This is not surprising in light of the fact that in
that year immigration to Israel reached an all-time low (11,500 people,
less than half of the number of immigrants in 1952 and less than 7% of the
number of immigrants in 1951). From this point on, the rate of
unemployment dropped continuously, reaching a low of 3.3% in 1964. In the
next two years (again correlating with a drop in immigration) the rate of
growth of the national product dropped, and unemployment climbed to 10.5%
in 1967.
In the following 18 years, unemployment rates ranged from 2.6% to 6% (an
enviable level of unemployment relative to most Western countries) and to
6% to 11% in the following decade, after 1985. The highest rates were
registered at the beginning of the 90s - a period that saw waves of
immigration the likes of which had not been seen since the early 50s. In
this case, it took an average of a year for the immigrants (the majority
of whom were the most educated and professional in the history of
immigration to Israel) to find appropriate employment. The economic
support given to these immigrants today, above and beyond the unemployment
insurance benefits to which all unemployed citizens are entitled by law
(since the end of the 60s), allows them to search for employment
relatively unpressured.
In 1996, the level of unemployment was 7.1%.
Inflation
Like unemployment, rising prices are an obstacle to healthy economic
development. This, because inflation limits the ability of any consumer,
producer, investor, debtor, or government to plan economic steps for the
near or distant future. As was the case with unemployment, the achievement
of the Israeli economy lies in its success in overcoming these and
associated difficulties.
This was done through the refinement of the tool of linkage. The Israeli
economy turned this tool into an art, and used it in an impressive manner
unmatched by any other country. At first, workers' wages were linked to
the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to ensure that inflation - large or small -
would not hurt their purchasing power. Later, banks began linking their
customers' savings to the CPI or to foreign currencies (usually the U.S.
dollar) so that these customers would not be tempted to spend their money
before its value dropped. For the same reason, insurance companies
followed the banks' lead and began using linkage. Many with debts to
collect, usually those who were selling goods or services on payment
plans, also resorted to the linkage system to avoid losing on transactions
as a result of the value of future payments dropping when prices rose.
Linkage received formal approval when the government began linking its
contractual payments to suppliers as well as its receipts from various
taxes to the CPI. Even the income tax brackets are updated according to
increases in the CPI.
Hence, while large and powerful economies worldwide were straining under
the havoc caused by annual inflation of 2%-7%, Israelis went about their
business almost undisturbed despite inflation rates dozens of times higher
than this. For almost forty years, Israelis were completely protected by
the linkage mechanism, something that can be seen as an impressive
achievement in itself. Indeed, the standard of living (per capita private
consumption) rose by an annual average rate of almost 4% during this
period.
The Israeli economy has witnessed inflation for all 50 years of its
existence. In the early years, when burning problems led the captains of
the economy to disregard the need for a monetary policy, inflation was
high, reaching 57.7% in 1952. The "new economic policy" introduced in that
year brought, among other things, a halving of the rate of inflation, to a
level of 28.1% in 1953. From that point on, for a period of eighteen years
until 1970, inflation remained single-digit, with a 1.4% low in 1959 and a
9.4% high in 1962. The annual rate of price rises turned double-digit in
the 1971-1979 period (increasing from 12% to 78%), and in the 80s, this
became triple-digit inflation, which reached a peak of 445% in 1984, and
threatened to reach four digits.
This is where the party ended. It became evident that under this type of
hyperinflation, the linkage mechanism could not provide a sufficient
solution. Too high a price was being paid, in terms of the national
product, on the daily adjustments required to use (and attempts to
improve) this mechanism. In addition, the linkage mechanism itself was
adding fuel to the fire of inflation, something that had always been true,
but with a negligible effect when inflation rates were at lower levels.
In July 1985, when it became clear that there was no other choice, the
government decided to adopt an economic stabilization policy, taking
extreme steps, some of which are considered "reactionary" in economic
thought. Ordinances were issued compelling a total freeze of prices of all
goods and services in the economy, including all wages, public budgets,
exchange rates and linked prices specified in various agreements. This
policy, in fact, was a temporary suspension of the linkage mechanism.
Indeed, in 1986, the inflation rate dropped by more than half (to 185%),
and in 1987 it dropped to about a tenth of this rate (19%). In the ten
years since then, annual inflation has never surpassed 20%, and there were
two years during this period in which inflation was even single-digit. The
linkage mechanism was reinstated (with stricter monetary supervision by
the central bank), and the waves of criticism and doubt expressed by many
economists worldwide with regard to the steps taken in the summer of 1985
turned into applause.
The "economic stabilization policy" and the determination shown in
implementing the policy won admiration as an extraordinary achievement of
the Israeli economy and today they are studied in economic faculties
worldwide, as is still the case with the linkage mechanisms.
Private Consumption and Savings
It would have been reasonable to assume that in a national economy such as
that of Israel, which had to withstand the burdens described above and at
the same time maintained one of the world's highest rates of economic
growth, there would be no resources left over for individuals to use to
raise their standard of living, i.e., their private consumption. In fact,
if the Israeli economy only had at its disposal the means resulting from
its own product, the tremendous level of public consumption and the
savings required to finance the investments necessary for continued
product growth would have made this the case. However, as mentioned above,
the economy benefited from a large capital import which allowed it to
record its achievements. This left enough to allow private households to
improve their standard of living.
Until 1970, per capita private consumption rose by an average annual rate
of some 4.7%, and has risen by about 3.2% since then. While there were a
few years in which this consumption dropped, most of these during the
second period, there have been more than 40 years in which per capita
private consumption increased (at levels ranging from 1 to 11 percent), a
noteworthy achievement. In this context, it is no less noteworthy that
during this period the citizens of Israel showed restraint and did not
spend all of their personal income. Rather, they behaved economically,
saving a significant part of it - thus contributing to the investment
possibilities of the country and allowing the economy to become that much
less reliant on imported capital.
The rate of private savings in Israel is one of the highest in the world.
During the country's first decade, the proportion of private disposable
income that was set aside as savings never dropped below 29%. At the
beginning of the 60s, this ratio fell to 21%, but it then climbed up to
38% in 1972. In the following decade, the savings rate dropped to 34%,
then to 29% in 1985 and 25% in 1996.
Reduction of Economic Inequality
As in all Western countries, a progressive income tax system in Israel
serves to reduce inequality of income between individuals in the economy.
This is accomplished by taking about half of the income of the richest
individuals (those belonging to the highest deciles on the basis of
income) while granting an exemption from income tax to those in the lowest
income deciles. Income inequality is further reduced through a system of
social transfer payments to complement income of those in need, using a
variety of criteria, by the National Insurance Institute and other
sources.
In addition to this policy of reducing inequality by refraining from
collecting taxes from those with low incomes and by providing them with
financial assistance, the government also works to reduce inequality by
directly providing services such as education, health and culture that,
while benefiting the entire population, are of greater benefit to those
with lower incomes. The amount spent on these social services, both in
absolute terms and in terms of the proportion of the total public
expenditure spent on these services, has risen over the years, especially
in the past two decades, during which the defense burden, as a percentage
of the national product, began to decline.
However, not only has the real value of the budget for these services more
than doubled over the course of the past decade - with its weight in the
average disposable income of households rising from 17% to 23% - but the
contribution that these services make to the reduction of inequality has
increased, especially with the recent introduction of national health
insurance in Israel.
Thus, while the economic income of the lowest decile equals only 8% of the
income of the highest decile (a slight improvement as compared with 6.6%
40 years ago), the payments that they receive and the fact that their
income tax and national insurance payments equal less than 2% of that of
the highest decile, raise their disposable income to 19% of that of the
highest decile. When one also takes into account the services that are
provided directly by the government, the inequality is reduced even
further, raising the lowest decile's actual income (financial plus the
value of services provided) to 27% of that of the highest decile. This is
3.4 times more than before government intervention.
Industry
Of all the branches of the Israeli economy, industry has grown the most:
its growth rate is higher than that of the total national product;
industrial exports have increased more than total exports; the number of
people employed in industry has risen more than in any other branch of the
economy. Furthermore, the future development of the Israeli economy
depends on the growth of the industrial sector. In recent times, this
sector has accounted for about 65% of the total export of goods and
services, has received about 25% of the total investments in the economy,
has produced 23% of the total national product and has employed about 22%
of the total number of workers.
These achievements in the manufacturing industry stand out, not just
considering the fact that its product actually shrunk in the first three
years of statehood (when public and economic attention was focused on the
physical absorption of the new immigrants), but also in view of the
pre-statehood Zionist policymakers' "ideological" disregard of industry
during the first decades of renewed Jewish settlement in the Land of
Israel. These leaders saw agricultural settlements as the highest priority
and gave this area of activity whatever financial support could be raised.
In those years, industry was thought of, at best, as essential in order to
serve agriculture. The status awarded to industry only improved during
WWII when it made a significant contribution to the war effort of the
Allies.
Between 1950 and 1996, industrial exports rose from $13 million to $17.1
billion, a 167-fold increase (in real terms). The number of people
employed in industry rose by four times, from 95,000 to 388,000. In the
period 1952-1973, total industrial output grew at an average of about 12%
per year, whereas during 1974-1996 it grew by an average of about 4%
annually.
The growth of the hi-tech section of industry is even more remarkable: 30
years ago it was 37% of the industrial output, compared to 56% a decade
ago and 66% today. In 1970 hi-tech exports amounted to $540 million, or
20% of total industrial exports, whereas in 1996 they were 20 times larger
- exceeding $10 billion, or 60% of total industrial exports. Much of the
fast growth of this section of industry may be attributed to the influx of
highly skilled manpower arriving in Israel with the 90s wave of
immigration. Also, hi-tech industry in Israel enjoys generous R&D public
budget allocations and high rates of return on investments. It is no
wonder that stock exchanges around the world show keen interest in Israeli
hi-tech shares traded there.
Agriculture
As agricultural settlement was at the focus of the Zionist movement's
concepts, this branch of the economy received significant public
assistance in the two or three generations preceding the establishment of
the state (and even more afterwards). This led to its becoming extremely
sophisticated, especially in the past thirty years. Nonetheless, the
weight of this economic activity in the national product, in exports and
in employment, has dropped over the years - partly due to the fact that
the large investment made in agriculture led to very efficient production
processes. Today, 4% of the work force in Israel (one-third of the
proportion in 1950) is enough to meet all of the country's food needs
(except for seeds) and still yield more than $600 million of agricultural
exports annually.
The main achievement of agriculture in Israel lies in the fact that it is
one of the most advanced agricultural systems in the world, both in terms
of efficiency and in terms of sophistication. In addition to varied
agricultural produce, the country exports advanced agricultural know-how
and machinery (the fruit of Israeli scientific development).
Tourism
Yet another achievement is the annual number of tourists arriving in
Israel - which has recently passed the 2.5 million mark, 76 times the
33,000 who visited the country in 1950. The value of exporting tourist
services (i.e., the foreign currency income) now exceeds $2.8 billion.
Israel has invested considerably in an infrastructure allowing tourists to
enjoy the country's geographical diversity, archeological and religious
sites, almost unlimited sunshine and modern resort facilities at the
beaches of the Mediterranean, the Sea of Galilee, and the Dead and Red
Seas. The potential of all this is much greater and the further and faster
growth in the number of tourists now depends - first and foremost - on
peace in the region.
Conclusion
Naturally, it is impossible to list all the areas in which clear
indications of Israel's outstanding economic achievements may be noted.
Many of these can not even be measured quantitatively. One example is the
fact that Hebrew, not French, Spanish or Japanese, is the second language
after English heard at international trade fairs of the hi-tech industry,
indicating Israel's momentous role in this field.
In addition, Israel has managed to rise above the losses caused by the
tri-level Arab economic boycott. The boycott not only forbade firms in
Arab countries to trade with Israel, but also blacklisted all firms in the
world which do so (thereby preventing them from doing business with any
Arab country) and furthermore blacklisted any company that dealt with any
of the aforementioned firms.
The amount of business lost by Israel as a result of the secondary and
tertiary boycotts is immeasurable. Still, this was limited both by
anti-boycott laws passed, through Israeli pressure, in most Western
countries, and by the realization, by many firms, that the small Israeli
market was larger, for many industrial products, than all the Arab
countries combined.
In summary, the leading measurable economic achievements of Israel are:
- Becoming one of the world leaders in economic growth rate - averaging 5%
annually in the 1990s.
-
Joining the list of the 20 highest per capita income countries in the
world.
-
Attaining the highest exports per capita in the world.
-
Overcoming the ill effects of inflation by creating a sophisticated
"linkage" (of prices) mechanism, and reverting to a stern stabilization
policy with the advent of hyperinflation.
-
Maintaining, in most years, close to full employment, while absorbing
2.6 million immigrants, four times the population at the establishment of
the state.
-
Making the manufacturing industry, especially the hi-tech sector, the
main factor in the Israeli economy, with a growth rate higher than that of
the total national product.
-
Developing the most advanced agriculture in the world, in terms of,
e.g., yield per acre, use of sophisticated irrigation systems and
application of innovative research and technology in agriculture.
As Israel's economy looks towards the 21st century, it expects to continue
to prosper as an active partner in the world economy.
Sources: Israeli
Foreign Ministry |