Highlights of Israel's Economy in 1997

1997 was a record year for foreign investment. Foreign investors invested $3.04 billion in Israel.
Israel is becoming a magnet for venture capital. Six years ago, Israel had only one venture capital fund with $30 million in assets; today, there are more than 50, with close to $2 billion.
Significant investments in Israel were made by major U.S. companies such as Johnson & Johnson (purchase of Biosense for $400 million), Applied Materials ($200 million investment) Goldman-Sachs Group (investment in IDB Holdings for $80 million), Carrier (investment in Tadiran Consumer Products, $17 million), and Cylink (investment in Algorithmic Research, $82 million), and international firms such as Deutsche Telekom (investment in Vocaltec, $48 million) and Siemens (investment in Radnet for $75 million, in partnerships with Newbridge).
Foreign investors are pouring a record amount of dollars into the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.
Nearly 100 Israeli stocks are traded on Wall Street—more than any other country except Canada.

Miscellaneous Economic "Factoids"

Israel's privatization program is ahead of schedule. In 1997, proceeds from privatizations totaled $2.3 billion, more than the $1.1 billion projected figure.
Israel is the only nation in the world that has free trade agreements with the U.S., Canada, and the European Union, making it a "trade bridge" between three continents.
Israel's GDP per capita is $17,000, ranking it with England and Spain.
Inflation in Israel fell to 7% in 1997, compared with 10% in 1996.
Israel's budget deficit was cut from 4.4% of GDP to less than 2.8%.
Israel's trade deficit was cut 25% from $11.4 billion to $9 billion.

High Technology

Israel is a world Internet power, second only to the U.S. in pioneering new technologies.
Software Magazine (April 1997) ranked four Israeli companies among the 25 most important Internet companies in the world: Check Point Software Technologies (#1); Finjan Software (#10); VDOnet Corp. (#14); and BackWeb Technologies (#18).
There are 1,000 high tech start-ups in Israel today—more than any country except the U.S.
High tech exports rose more than 20% in 1997.
Israel dedicates 2.5% of its GDP to research and development -- one of the highest percentages in the world.
Israel has the world's greatest number of engineers, scientists and doctors per capita (135 per 10,000 workers).

Sources: Israel Central Bureau of Statistics