Exports from Israel Up, Up, Up!

June 26, 2005

Meanwhile, Israeli exports to the Arab world rose 48% in 2004, to US $180 million, with another US $12 million in Israeli exports sold indirectly in Arab countries, the Israel Manufacturers Association (IMA) said in February.

IMA president Shraga Brosh added that the improved atmosphere in the region could help drive foreign investments as high as US $3 billion in 2005—more than three times the US $800 million invested in Israel in 2004. Brosh predicted that closer diplomatic ties with Egypt and Jordan and increased cooperation between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) “will allow trade with the Arab states and the Palestinian Authority to take off already in 2005.”

Brosh attributed the growth in Israel’s exports to Arab neighbors primarily to increased trade with Egypt and Jordan. Exports to Jordan rose 55% in 2004, to some US $134 million, and consisted mostly of textiles, clothing, leather goods, wood products, furniture, paper, and printed material. Exports to Egypt rose 11% last year, to about US $29.2 million, and included primarily chemical and petroleum goods, textiles, and clothing.

Manufactured exports from Israel to the PA rose 9% in 2004, totaling NIS 1.6 billion (US $372 million), and included edible goods, plastic, rubber and metal products, machinery and equipment, chemicals, building materials, and communications equipment.

Exports to Persian Gulf states, primarily machinery and telecommunications equipment, grew 110%, to about US $1.9 million, and exports to Morocco rose 33%, to US $8.9 million.

The IMA said that exports to Iraq rose tenfold in 2004, to some US $5 million, from approximately US $500,000 the year before. The goods were imported mostly by United States military forces stationed in the country and included consumer goods, moving equipment, plastic and rubber products, as well as industrial and military equipment.

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