Shifting Focus

Michigan investments in Israel
have shifted to individual firms in the high-tech sector.

ALAN ABRAMS
Special to The Jewish News

'though Michigan investors
played a key role in invest-
ing in Israel after statehood,
especially through Israel
Bonds and other philanthropic rather
than economic-oriented groups, the
emphasis today is upon joint ventures
with Israeli high-tech firms.
"The investments in Israel have
changed substantially over the years as
Israel became more of a scientific and
technological state, and
they've done very well
in that field," said
industrialist and civic
leader Max Fisher.
Fisher pioneered a
business network with
U.S. and Israeli compa-
nies through Operation
Independence, which he
set up at the beginning
of the 1990s along with
David Hermelin, Paul
Borman and other local
business leaders.
"Economic issues
were dealt with more on
an individual basis"
through Operation
Independence, said
Fisher, adding that he
no longer has any
investments in Israel.
Much of the ground-
work which was laid by
Fisher is carried on
today by the Michigan-
Israel Chamber of
Commerce. The recent-
ly restructured group
has George Herrera,
director of international
sales for Masco Corporation, as chair-
man of the board. The chamber is
organizing a delegation of Michigan
businesspersons to attend the May 11-
13 Investech '98 in Washington, D.C.
According to Shelly Komer Jackier,
the Michigan-Israel Chamber execu-
tive vice president, Investech '98 is
"the first ever U.S.-Israel Investment

and Technology Exhibition and
Congress. It offers American investors
and manufacturers an opportunity to
explore strategic partnerships, capital
investments, industrial cooperation,
and marketing and distribution agree-
ments between U.S. and Israeli indus-
tries and U.S. venture capital funds."
Among Michigan organizations
lending their support to Investech are
the Michigan Jobs Commission, the
International Business Council of the
Greater Detroit Chamber of
Commerce, the University of

Michigan's Business and Industrial
Assistance Division, MERRA - the
Ann Arbor-based high-tech council,
the World Trade Center of Detroit
and Windsor and the U.S.
Department of Commerce.
Jackier said Investech offers the
constituencies of those organizations
an opportunity to learn of the new

technologies coming from Israel, to
meet one-on-one with Israeli compa-
nies to ascertain the potential for joint
business relationships (whether joint
research and development, marketing
and sales agreements, or investing), to
showcase their own technologies, to
endeavor to secure venture capital
from the top-level U.S. investment
banking companies who will attend,
or acquire seed capital from the Bi-
National R&D Foundation (BIRD-F)
for joint venture projects between
U.S. and Israeli companies in high-

pioneers of yesterday's investment in
Israel and today's emphasis upon high-
tech development, there has been
widespread speculation, unconfirmed
at press time, that Max Fisher may
address Investech as keynote speaker.
The Israeli high-tech small business -
community encompasses almost 2,000
entities, with 1,000 new start-up corn-
panies every year generating new
products in a variety of applications in
electronics, electro-optics and laser
technology, robotics and computers,
environmental engineering, biotech-
nology, plastics and
chemical products,
medical equipment
and pharmaceuticals,
software applications
and technology incuba-
tors.
Much of this growth
has been made possible
by Israel's defense
establishment, which
has fed thousands of
scientists and hundreds
of entrepreneurs into
the civilian market-
place.
Another key factor
in the blossoming of
Israel's high technology
has been the large emi-
gration of Jewish scien-
tists from the former
Soviet Union. Because
of this influx, Israel
now has 115 scientists
per 10,000 population,
the highest ratio in the
world. By comparison,
the ratio in the United
States is 85 scientists
per,10,000.
This new-found
A
mo
dery
technological
prowess has
tech non-defense areas.
bottlin g plant within this decade changed the
A complete list of the
face of Israel and made it one
approximately 100 Israeli com- in Isra et:
of the four leading centers of
panies that will be represented
technology in the world.
at Investech along with their areas of
Among the first to capitalize on this
specialization can be found on their
development was Genefal Motors,
Web site: www.quikpage.com/U/usim-
which has several joint ventures with
co
Israeli companies, particularly
To underscore the link between the

5/1
1998

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