Happy New Year!
from the
Sales Staff
of

121JONIO

VOGUE

FINE MEN'S EUROPEAN FASHION

29475 Northwestern Hwy.
Southfield, MI 48034

(313) 352-7660

Audrey Pearl

Specializing In

ASSOCIATES

V (6962/)(Ac'rie-a-t66.

C.244-11-119/1

RETIREMENT PLANNING
QUALIFIED PLANS
ASSET ALLOCATION

PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT
FINANCIAL PLANNING
SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS

Wishes
a very healthy, prosperous
and
Happy New Year
to all our friends

Hearty Wishes To Our
Customers and Friends
For A Ver
Healthy and Happy
NEW YEAR

PA

JEWELRY DESIGN
& MFG. LTD.

Morris Bedncrsh
Anthony Femr1
Chris Scicornack
APPLEGATE SQUARE

Northwestern & Inkster
356-7007

Gates Open
To Central Asia

TAMI LEHMAN WILZIG SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

-

I

et's hear it for patience.
Israelis may not have
a lot of it, but after
40 years of dealing with
the Histadrut labor federa-
tion and assorted government
agencies, the necessity of
savlanut (Hebrew for pa-
tience) has been hammered
home and is paying off.
With the collapse of the
Soviet Union, the business
gates of the newly indepen-
dent Muslim republics in
Central Asia are opening to
the world at large and inter-
national enterprises —
Israelis among them — are
flooding the region's portals.
An area mired in bureauc-
racy, according to Benny
Naividel, manager of the
Israel-Russia & CIS Chamber
of Industry and Commerce,
"This is a region where pa-
tience definitely rules the
day," he says. "Israel's exten-
sive reservoir of Russian-
speaking professionals is also
coming in very useful, giving
us a decided advantage over
the West."
Apart from the obvious
financial rewards, Israel
views economic headway in
this region as a political
necessity and the Israeli
government hopes strong
economic links will prevent
these states from falling prey
to Iranian influence.
Some Israeli businesses
have grasped the potential of
Central Asia's untapped
wealth, already taking ad-
vantage of its combination of
natural resources and an
under-developed techno-
logical infrastructure.
Among the leaders is
Netafim, the noted irrigation
system manufacturer, which
has been dealing in the
Ukraine for the past 10 years,
and with the rest of Central
Asia for only two. Spear-
heading the effort was Shaul
Eisenberg, the Israeli venture
capitalist who opened the
door to Israeli trade with
Japan, Korea and China.
Mr. Eisenberg's interest in
Central Asia was first ignited
in 1989, when Israel estab-
lished commercial ties with
the former Soviet Union.
Painstaking efforts finally
opened up channels to
decision-makers in the Mus-
lim republics and in a rare
interview with the Jerusalem
Post, Mr. Eisenberg confided
that he had to "pay a lot of
rebbe-gelt until I found the
right people to talk to:'

Mr. Eisenberg's first deal
was with the country's third
largest country — Uzbeki-
stan. While this state is also
the world's third largest cot-
ton producer (after the United
States and China) the level of
its over utilized Aral Sea has
dropped by 40 percent and the
resulting pollution makes it
an efficient irrigation source.
Mr. Eisenberg came up
with the right solution at the
right time — Israel's in-
novative drip irrigation
system which uses substan-
tially less water than conven-
tional irrigation. The Uzbeki-
stan Minister of Agriculture
was skeptical, Mr. Eisenberg
recalls."We've been growing
cotton for 2,000 years and
you've only been growing it
for 40. What can you teach
us?" he challenged.
Apparently the answer is
"Quite a lot." Israel's method
increases cotton production
by 40 percent while reducing
water usage by two-thirds.

Shipping and
delivery logistics
are not the same.

While the future of Israeli
trade in this region looks
bright, however, the nitty
gritty details of the transac-
tions themselves can often be
excruciating.
"Let's just say it requires a
good deal of sophistication on
the part of both sides," says
Mr. Naividel, who had ob-
served the situation first-
hand. "Many of these coun-
tries do not have solid curren-
cies and we can't count on im-
mediate cash transactions.
What we can depend on is
barter agreements under
which raw materials such as
metal, copper, cotton or
petroleum are sold to a third
party. The money is then
placed in a European bank
account."
If this isn't labyrinthine
enough, then try to imagine
the difficulties in ensuring
that goods from both sides ar-
rive intact, on time and in
full. As Netafim's export
manager Udi Tzur explains:
"The shipping and delivery
logistics are just not the same
as they are in the West, where
everything runs like clock-
work. With no police surveil-
lance or guard service, the
entire process must be super-