Peres: Growth is thanks to 100,000 high-tech people

"High-tech development and technologies have changed the face of Israeli diplomacy."

"An amazing thing has happened to the Israeli economy. There's war all around us yet Israel's economy has continued to grow by more than 5%," said Vice Premier Shimon Peres yesterday at the conference of the World Diamond Council in Jerusalem.

"There are those who claim that the government contributed to Israel's high rate of economic growth. They're mistaken. The growth is thanks to 100,000 high-tech people. Others say that we have a brilliant government. I say it is not the government that is brilliant, but the people."

According to Peres, technology is the key to economic prosperity. "Technology does not recognize boundaries or customs offices. Governments cannot prevent the flow of knowledge and capital." Peres also commented humorously on the state of labor relations in both high-tech and affluent industries such as the diamond sector. "Millionaires don't strike and they don't have workers committees."

Peres added that high-tech development and technologies have changed the face of Israeli and international diplomacy. International terrorism, the war in Iraq and the other conflicts in the Middle East would not, he claimed, stop economic development and the flow of technology.

World Diamond Council chairman and CEO Eli Izhakoff said he believed that the diamond industry had so far remained unharmed by the weakening of the dollar. "However, if it carries on, there will be repercussions," he warned. He added that he believed that the dollar would stabilize and not weaken further. Izhakoff stressed that the diamond industry did business in dollars and would continue to so in the future.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on May 10, 2007

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2007

Twitter Facebook Linkedin RSS Newsletters גלובס Israel Business Conference 2018