BUSINESS
THE JEWISH NEWS
BUSINESS
CONTENTS
ISRAEL'S SUCCESS: HIS BUSINESS
David Hermelin has a passion.
BUSINESS IS BOOMING
Israel on the global economic scene.
JEWISH ROOTS
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Old businesses of Detroit.
ECONOMIC BAROMETER
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New highs for Detroit.
BUSINESS DIPLOMACY
David Hermelin: "Wanting Israel to privatize."
!Israel's Success
Is His Business
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DETROIT-ISRAEL BUSINESSES
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SO HOW'S BUSINESS
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Thank goodness 1992 is over.
MODERN MEDICINE
David Hermelin has a passion for
the growth of the Jewish state.
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Changing roles.
ISRAELI STOCKS ARE HOT
( PHIL JACOBS MANAGING EDITOR
avid Hermelin can
talk Israel like
many can hammer
out baseball stats.
; He sits back in his Redico
Management office in South-
field, almost drifting away to
somewhere between Tel Aviv
and Jerusalem.
Israel is Mr. Hermelin's
passion, and the business of
\ Israel is for everyone who
• knows him, a driving force in
his soul. He's proud of Israel,
almost like a father would be
of a child. He wants it to do
well.
"The big picture of business
\ in Israel is really great," he
• said. "It's one of the few coun-
tries that showed a significant
amount of economic growth
last year, 6 1/2 percent. A sig-
nificant piece of that pie was
in job creation. Israel wants
to drive its unemployment
• down like it has done with in-
flation."
Unemployment, he added,
is still a major challenge for
Israel to face, especially with
its continually arriving popu-
lation made up largely of So-
,. viet emigres. The unem-
ployment number among olim
is still over 20 percent. Over-
all, the country's unemploy-
ment rate is over 11 percent.
Mr. Hermelin said it is im-
possible to expect Israel to get
jobs for people on the first day
Former counsel general reps for Israel.
Israel makes its mark on the Market.
of their arrival. But strength-
ening the economy will pro-
vide more jobs. The key, he
said, will come when Israel
moves into an era of free en-
terprise and privatization.
That process is well on its
way to starting, and Mr. Her-
melin said it also is happen-
ing in ways not so obvious.
Israeli universities, he ex-
plained, are educating stu-
dents in the ways of western
business, so they learn the
universal language of busi-
ness when the opportunity
strikes.
He discusses one of Israel's
most precious assets — its
large computer software and
high tech industry. Many of
these companies are traded
on the U.S. securities mar-
kets.
He even knows something
about Israel's medical indus-
try. The country has one of
the world's highest rates of
doctors — one for every 1,000
citizens. On the flipside, Is-
rael is trying to attract busi-
nesses from other parts of the
world by offering financial in-
centives. Many of the incen-
tives come from the gov-
ernment.
"Israel must not be a fol-
lower, but a leader," Mr. Her-
melin said.
Israel is not without its
problems, he said. The real
problem in the area, whether
there's peace or war, is water.
"If you don't develop the
desert it will consume you,"
he said. "This is an issue of
the region that needs to be ad-
dressed through cooperative
efforts."
Mr. Hermelin believes Is-
rael's future success will in-
clude broadening its business
base to include Syria,
Lebanon, Jordan and the oth-
er countries in the Middle _
East region.
Then, once the government
makes privatization of the
business world a reality, Is-
rael will begin to prosper on
the economic scene.
"Israel already is a world
leader in quality of work-
force," he said. "Israel is well
postured in this area. And
when you factor in the quali-
ty and the educational level
of the Soviet olim, you see sig-
nificant positive things hap-
pening.
"But for the country to
grow, there's got to be more
outreach to foreign compa-
nies, the relationship between
the government and Israeli
industry and business needs
to be more streamlined.
"That red tape that every-
one used to talk about con-
cerning Israel is much better
now than it's ever been.
❑
BURNT OUT
Detroit professionals pursue different paths.
GUARDIAN ANGEL
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William Davidson talks business.
PENNIES FROM HEAVEN
Financial aid to Israel boost or burden?
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