1. Electricity and Gas Equipment: Electrical generating, distribution, transmission and scrubbing equipment. Israel Electric Corporation (IEC), Israel’s electricity monopoly, plans to invest over one billion dollars annually over the next 7 years to expand its generating system and to upgrade its transmission and distribution equipment, and another $1 billion over ten years to reduce emissions. Questions? Please contact Irit van der Veur.
2. Defense Equipment: Israel’s defense spending continues to consume a large percentage of its budget. Israel is engaged in long-term modernization plans, including procurements of aircraft, ships, weapons systems, ammunition, vehicles, trainers and simulators, etc. Israel is the world’s third largest arms exporter, after the U.S. and Russia, and the industry imports components, parts, raw materials etc. Questions? Please contact Irit van der Veur.
3. Medical Equipment and Disposable Products: The Israeli medical equipment market continues to present significant opportunities to U.S. exporters. Estimated at $540 million annually, over three-quarters of this market is imported. The American exports account for $200 million. Questions? Please contact Yael Torres.
4. Industrial Chemicals: Total Israeli imports of industrial chemicals from 1997 to 2002 grew by 40%, to $3.2 billion. The U.S. share in 2002 was $472 million. Industrial chemicals are used as intermediates and raw materials in Israel’s leading industries, including the chemical, pharmaceutical, food, electronics, textile and metalworking sectors. Questions? Please contact Yael Torres.
5. Telecommunication Equipment: Most revenue in the Israeli $5 billion Telecom sector derives from wireless and Internet services. Internet penetration is growing quickly. Four major/60 smaller Internet service providers serve two million users. The market offers new opportunities for telecom equipment vendors serving network operators. An increased number of data and telephony service providers generate demand for new network equipment. The cable companies are upgrading their networks, including last mile and transmission equipment. Questions? Please contact Sigal Mendelovich.
6. Electronic Components: Israel is a major consumer of electronic components, importing $1 billion in 2002 ($350 million from the USA). Israel’s well known capabilities in the industry prompt global leaders to establish research and development facilities and manufacturing plants in the country: Applied Materials, General Electric, Intel, Microsoft and National Semiconductor are major investors. Questions? Please contact Sigal Mendelovich.
7. Building Materials/Construction Industries (DIY and Infrastructure): The $2 billion home renovation sector shows that DIY stores are extremely popular. Because of the 130,000 remodeling projects each year average $15,000 each. Infrastructure development is badly in need of attention and many of these needs are likely to be addressed in the short to mid-term future. The government, for example, is opting to raise capital from the private sector through the use of Build Operate Transfer (BOT) and Private Finance Initiative (PFI) methods for funding major projects. Alan Wielunski.
8. Safety / Security Equipment and Services: Israel's $790 million security equipment and services market is of interest to U.S. exporters. The import market is estimated at $240 million of which 70% is U.S. market share. U.S. products enjoy an excellent reputation, due to their high reliability. The products are often used for sensitive applications, by high-security industries, utilities, airports, ports, etc. There are good opportunities for U.S. exporters of high quality and sophisticated detection systems, sensors, x-ray systems, non-lethal weapons, etc. Irit van der Veur.
9. Travel and Tourism Services: The United States remains the largest one-haul destination for Israeli travelers and opportunities to tap this market exist for service providers. The main destinations that attract Israelis are the states of New-York, Florida and California. Yael Torres.
10. Computer Software: Israel has a well-developed software industry and a high percentage of imports come from the United States. Despite the global hi-tech crisis, Israel's software ingenuity continues to rank the market second in the world after the United States in the number of technological start-ups. Many Israeli software companies trade on NASDAQ. American software is well accepted in Israel and stimulates $ multi-million deals between U.S. and Israeli software companies. One entry chance to the Israeli market is through a joint venture with an Israeli company; funding for such projects is available from the Bi-national Industrial Research and Development Foundation (BIRD). Sigal Mendelovich.