At the gala opening session of the Globes Israel Business Conference 2010 in Tel Aviv, Governor of the Bank of Israel Prof. Stanley Fischer was named person of the year for 2010.
The Globes conference, held at the David Intercontinental Hotel, is the most prestigious annual event in Israel's business sector. Executives, major political figures, and top decision makers meet to discuss the latest trends in the local and global economies.
To mark Fischer's award, Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben S. Bernanke taped a special greeting which was played at the ceremony, saying "It's a privilege for me to say a few words in honor of my teacher." Fischer was Bernanke's professor at MIT.
"He was at the forefront of research. He's doing incredible work at the Bank of Israel. Fischer is a leading voice in the global economy. On a personal level, I very much value the talks on policy issues we've had since I became Fed chairman." Bernanke concluded with the Hebrew phrase "Yasher Koach" which loosely translated means "good job", or "well done".
Fischer thanked the staff at the Bank of Israel, as well as former Minister of Finance Ronnie Bar-On, current Minister of Finance Yuval Steinitz, and Ministry of Finance staff for keeping fiscal discipline. Fischer also discussed issues that need to be dealt with in Israel, saying, "We are very good at dealing with the immediate problems, but somewhat less good in meeting longer term challenges. We need to change that."
The Israel Business Conference continues on Sunday and Monday.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 12, 2010
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