Here's The Pitch
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Marianne Gingrich, wife of House Speaker Newt Gingrich, comes to town
to promote Israel's planned Free Processing Zone.
SUZANNE CHESSLER
SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
W
enterprises was passed by the Is-
raeli Knesset last June. The
iEDC hopes to receive a contract
for the zone this summer.
Mrs. Gingrich's introduction
to the IEDC came in 1993, when
she and her husband went to Is-
rael on a tour arranged by the
American Israel Public Affairs
Committee, the pro-Israel lobby.
Last September, she was
named one of 30 representatives
working around the globe to
market the IEDC. In February,
she was promoted to vice presi-
dent.
PH OTO BY BIL L GEMMELL
hile Speaker of the
House Newt Gingrich
works in Washington to
deregulate business, his
wife Marianne travels through-
out the country to attract
investors to a deregulated com-
mercial area planned for Israel.
Mrs. Gingrich brought her
message about the projected Free
Processing Zone (FPZ) to Detroit
last week, addressing a Bloom-
field Hills meeting of the Amer-
ican-Israel Chamber of
Commerce of Michigan.
`To get economic development,
Marianne Gingrich addresses the American-Israel Chamber of Commerce
of Michigan.
business must be free of heavy
regulations," said Mrs. Gingrich,
vice president for business de-
velopment at Israel Export De-
velopment Co., Ltd., (IEDC), a
for-profit, off-shore corporation
formed by leaders of the Ameri-
can and English business corn-
munities to build Israel's first
FPZ.
"This is not a free-trade zone,"
Mrs. Gingrich said. "It's a place
where companies can engage in
high-tech development."
Legislation providing for FPZ
'We think Israel has a lot to of-
fer high-tech companies," Mrs.
Gingrich told her Bloomfield Hills
audience of about 70 chamber
members and guests. 'The coun-
try's highly skilled, multilingual
labor force can keep up with
world markets, and Arabs, Chris-
tians and Jews can provide an
around-the-clock workforce with-
out infringing on religious be-
liefs."
The FPZ is being planned for
700 acres in the Negev region
near Ashdod, Israel's largest sea-
port, and Beersheva, Israel's
fourth- largest city.
It would be developed in
stages, creating an office park for
global business operations which
focus on computer software de-
velopment, international finance
and insurance, telecommunica-
tions, worldwide advisory ser-
vices, pharmaceutical research
and other advanced commercial
initiatives.
To attract firms of all sizes, the
zone would be free of import du-
ties as well as income, capital-
gains and value-added taxes for
20 years.
The zone also would have no
quotas or import prohibitions, al-
low the use of all types of cur-
rency and set no minimum or
maximum foreign-ownership re-
quirements.
State-of-the-art communica-
tions systems would link the zone
with other commercial centers
around the world. Sprint Inter-
national would route the FPZ's
voice, data and video traffic.
"Elections should not hinder
or be an asset to the zone, but any
business environment is affected
by the peace and safety of the
area," Mrs. Gingrich commented
about the upcoming Israeli elec-
tions and efforts for ongoing
peace talks.
Before she became formally as-
sociated with IEDC, Mrs. Gin-
grich talked to possible investors
about it and proposed leading
them on a tour of Israel.
Because of her husband's po-
sition, she consulted with mem-
bers of a congressional ethics
committee before going ahead
with her travel plans.
Told that the trip would be ac-
ceptable if she were an employee
of the IEDC and not a volunteer,
she asked for a job and was hired
by David Yerushalmi, IEDC's
chairman and chief executive of-
ficer. According to news reports,
Mrs. Gingrich earns $2,500
monthly plus commissions.
Mrs. Gingrich, who studied ar-
chitecture at Kent State Univer-
sity and earned a business degree
from Georgia State University,
began her professional career as
an architectural designer of mod-
ular homes. After work brought
her in contact with local zoning
agencies, she became a county
planner.
Mrs. Gingrich served as re-
THE PITCH page 48
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