Sources inform ''Globes'' that Ness Technologies Ltd. will establish an R&D center at the Beersheva High Tech Park. The center will have 400 employees, including 150 engineers.
At a secret meeting yesterday, Prime Minister's Office director general Harel Locker, Budget Director Gal Hershkowitz, and Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor Shalom Simhon decided to allocate NIS 65 million of government money to finance part of the R&D center's salary cost over the next three years.
The project has been mired for a long time, due to a bitter dispute between the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor over the source of financing. Locker, at the order of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, persuaded the Ministry of Finance to provide the funding, after being persuaded of the project's importance to bring many jobs to the periphery.
The Ministry of Finance said that, despite the project's importance, the ministry did not have the money, which would have to come from the Ministry of Industry or another source decided on by the government.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 6, 2012
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