Happy Days?
ISRAEL DIGEST'
Specially compiled by The Jerusalem Post
Murray Feldman says Detroit business is rebounding.
DEBBIE SKLAR SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
H
ow's business
in Detroit?
After years of
struggling,
it's looking up, says
WJBK-TV 2 busi-
ness editor and
WWJ-AM business
reporter Murray
Feldman.
"Things are going
to get better," pre-
dicted Mr. Feld-
man, who appears
regularly on Chan-
nel 2 newscasts and
hosts a Sunday
morning Moneywise
business show on
the station.
"Someone had to
get the ball rolling
for Detroit, and I
think Mayor (Den-
nis) Archer has
done that," Mr.
Feldman said.
"Just like the na-
tional economy and
the auto industry,
the city is coming
back. Did you know
the Crowley's in the
Renaissance Center
is the chain's No. 1
store? Mayor
Archer told me Murray Feldman appreciates Mayor Archer's honesty.
there were at least
Mr. Feldman, 42, a native of
25-40 businesses interested in
coming to Detroit, and that Philadelphia and a graduate of
doesn't surprise me. The city is Emerson College in Boston, came
developing an image that sells.
to Channel 2 in 1976 from WPRI-
"As a reporter, I appreciate May- TV in Providence, R.I., where he
or Archer's honesty. He told me it worked as a news anchor/re-
was fine to bring our cameras into porter for nearly three years.
the downtown area and shoot
He also was a weekend an-
things that aren't so pleasant, too." chor/reporter at WNYS-TV in
Syracuse, N.Y., a
newscaster and disc
jockey at WWBZ-
AM in Vineyard,
N.J. and a part-time
news writer at
WKYW-AM in
Philadelphia.
Mr. Feldman's
broadcasting career
began in 1964 at
WCAM-AM in Cam-
den, N.J., where he
worked as a produc-
tion assistant part-
time, but "I knew
before then that I
wanted to be in the
communications
field," he said. "I had
my first article pub-
lished when I was 7
or 8. I was a member
of the Junior Re-
porter's Club in
grade school."
When Mr. Feld-
man first came here
from the East Coast,
"I heard so many
negatives about De-
troit,",he said. "But
this is home for me
now, and I couldn't
be happier. It's a
pretty good place to
live. There's jobs,
major corporations,
and so many great vacation spots
in the state."
Mr. Feldman and his wife,
Marla, live in Farmington Hills
with their children Katie, 12, and
Robbie, 10. Ms. Feldman, an at-
torney, is an employee of the
Livonia School District. ❑
Anti-Inflation Plan Approved
The Israeli cabinet approved, in
somewhat amended form, a joint
Treasury-Bank of Israel plan to
fight inflation. The proposal to
tax stock market profits also was
approved.
The anti-inflation plan, which
had been debated for several ses-
sions and had run into opposition
from several ministers, revolves
around enabling the government
to import fruit and vegetables if
the price of Israeli produce rises
sharply and impose limitations
on ministries' procurement bud-
gets if the overall budget is ex-
ceeded.
Finance Minister Avraham
Shohat denied on Israel Radio
that the government's next move
in the battle against inflation will
be to attempt to reduce the cost-
of-living increase paid to salaried
workers, but he said the govern-
ment will hold talks with em-
ployers and the Histadrut "with
a view of bringing labor costs
down without harming the
salaried worker."
The cabinet decided that the
finance minister and the farmers
should jointly set import priori-
ties. Notwithstanding this, and
Mr. Shohat's statement that he
had no desire to hurt farmers, the
decision elicited howls of protest
from the farming lobby.
Rising housing prices are be-
ing dealt with separately by a
ministerial committee (headed
by Prime Minister Yitzhak Ra-
bin), which appointed a steering
committee (headed by the Prime
Minister's Office Director-Gen-
eral Shimon Sheves) and sever-
al subcommittees which will
report to Mr. Rabin.
Mr. Shohat said he hoped the
steps were now in place to tack-
le soaring housing prices.
The cabinet also decided to set
up a special committee to inves-
tigate the import of processed
foods into the country.
— $1 EQUALS 3.0200 NIS (shekels) - Close Price SI 6/94 —
Net External Debt On The Rise
Israel's net external debt
jumped 8.9 percent during the
first half of the year to $17.96
billion as the government bor-
rowed $1 billion in U.S.-guar-
anteed funds and foreigners
increased their deposits in lo-
cal banks, the Bank of Israel's
supervisor of foreign currency
reported.
The government's foreign
debt increased by $1.11 billion
to $21.36 billion, mostly as a re-
suit of the $1 billion U.S.-
backed loan raised in March.
In a turnaround, the busi-
ness sector's external debt rose
by $453 million to $4.16 billion
after falling by $153 million last
year. - -
The rise reversed a downward
trend that has been in effect since
1989. According to the central
bank, the change is due to the
fact that a few large firms re-
ceived long-term credit abroad.
ECI Telecom Wins German Contrac
ECI Telecom, a wholly-owned
subsidiary of Israeli company
ECI, has been awarded a $4.6
million order by the Deutsche
Bundesposte Telekom of Ger-
many for its Digiloop digital
pair gain systems.
ECI Telecom's PCM-2A2 is
a low-cost version of ECI's
PCM-2 system, which enables
single twisted pair copper loops
to carry two digital calls si-
multaneously.
The systems employ high-
speed digital transmission, echo
cancellation techniques, and
'
use ISDN protocols.
ECI Telecom vice president
Uri Kashti said his company
won the order because of its
"reputation with the customer
for meeting delivery schedules
while maintaining quality and
performance specifications."
ECI has a long-standing re-
lationship with the German
telecommunications carrier.
Mr. Kashti said the PCM 2V
development "will significant:.
ly improve our competitive po-
sition."
-
Israel, Ukraine Will Communicate
Bezek of Israel and the UTEL be hooked up to the Ukraine
of the Ukraine signed an agree- via an undersea cable from the
menu for communications de- Mediterranean Sea to the
velopment between the two Black Sea.
countries. In 1996, Israel will
Italian Deal Is Watered Down
Bermad of Israel has won a $2
million international tender to
provide the Italian government
with hydraulic water transport
systems.
The project, which covers
150,000 dunams of Sicilian
farmland, will provide the area
with 10,000 cubic liters of wa-
ter per hour. Bermad is jointly
owned by Kibbutz Sa'ad and
Kibbutz Evron.
Bank Hapoalim In Zurich
Bank Hapoalim of Israel has
set up a Zurich subsidiary spe-
cializing in international in-
vestment banking.
Poalim Financial Markets
was established in partnership
with Charles Reisman, an
American investment banker,
with an investment of 1.5 mil-
lion Swiss francs.
Hapoalim has an 85 percent
share of the company, while Mr.
Reisman holds the remaining
15 percent with an option to in-
crease his share to 30 percent.
Mr. Reisman, who owns in-
vestment banking firms in the
United States and Europe, will
manage the subsidiary. Dan
Yahas, general manager of
Poalim Capital Markets, was
appointed chairman of the com-
pany.
The company will provide in-
ternational investment con-
sultancy services, management
of investment portfolios, private
issues, mergers and acquisi-
tions.