Steinitz calls to support development in north

Minister of Finance Yuval Steinitz has promised to support Haifa and the north calling it a "national objective" of the Israeli government in a speech last night. He praised the government's policy to strengthen higher education and to invest in infrastructures, adding that the fruits were already visible.

"We must again invest in higher education in order to become what we once were," said Steinitz. "If Israel wants life, then higher education at the highest level in the world is a critical task. It's true that we've discovered gas, and it's true that only after ten months of struggle we got the Knesset to pass the Sheshinski law in its first reading, but the country's main resource is not gas or oil, but human capital. That's the future, and when you develop the future you affect the economy in the present. We're developing academe, building roads and railways to the Negev and Galilee, and investing in the future now with the understanding that we'll reap the fruits in the present also, through investment."

Steinitz was heckled and booed during his speech at the Haifa Congress Hall. More than 100 demonstrators protesting the government's tax policies and the rise in the cost of living welcomed his arrival. The moment he began his speech, some demonstrators booed the Ministry of Finance's policies.

Steinitz kept his cool and gave his speech.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 2, 2011

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