The latest issue of the prestigious Economist newsmagazine praised Israel as a “Land of Opportunity" for entrepreneurs. The magazine cites Israel’s close ties to the U.S., a well-educated population and the Israeli army as factors producing an environment ripe for innovation.
According to the report, Israel currently has 4,000 high-tech companies and over 100 venture-capital funds. In addition, Israeli companies were responsible for innovations including the memory-stick, the Pentium chip, voicemail, instant messaging and the firewall.
Flash 90
The article notes that Israel has the highest number of PhDs, engineers, and scientists per person in the world. It also praises the Haifa Technion college as “one of the world’s best universities.” The report notes that the IDF trains Israelis in teamwork and improvisation and teaches them to have a high tolerance for risk, an important ingredient for entrepreneurship.
The magazine noted that U.S. giants Microsoft and Intel recognized that Israel was ripe for high-tech companies and established research arms in the country. It also points out that many Israelis travel back and forth from the U.S. to Israel and that 70 Israeli companies are traded on the U.S. NASDAQ stock market. On the other hand, it claims that Israel depended too heavily on the U.S. and is thus being hit by its economic downturn.
While Israel is “an embattled state in a sea of Arab hostility,” the greatest sign of Israel’s success, according to The Economist, is that the “Arab countries are beginning to realize that the best way to deal with Israel is to copy its vibrant economy.”