"The objective is to build a bigger economy, and Israeli economy with big companies. Business decisions should be driven by business, not regulation. We see Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA; TASE: TEVA) dealing with the problems of layoffs, but what can you do? Companies go through cycles, and for a company to stay healthy, it must also fire employees," said Mellanox Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq:MLNX) CEO Eyal Waldman at the PwC Israel Kesselman and Kesselman and CFO Forum's end of tax year conference today.
"I do not think that someone from the outside should come and tell a company, 'You cannot fire people because you received this or that.' This does not strengthen the economy, but weakens it. Do not put spokes in the wheels. A place with a business ethic should be created, because investors avoid place like China. If investors realize that Israel has ethics, they will feel more comfortable investing here," said Waldman.
"I say that it is more worthwhile being an Israeli company, but you should not restrict a company's production to Israel. The amount of regulation and supervision here, and the amendments make it difficult for companies to know what will happen in 2-3 years. Every company here is regarded as a crook. The world will be smaller, and it will be easier for a company to decide where it will do things. We at Mellanox want to bring people here."
On the issues of tax hikes and trapped profits, Waldman said, "It is reasonable to raise taxes, but not to raise them above the average in other countries. It's important to know that not all knowledge is found in Israel. We've acquired two companies, and there is no company in Israel with their technology. The acquisition of foreign companies is not intended to export trapped profits, but to continue to succeed."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on October 28, 2013
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