A wide area for new capital investments is offered by Israel’s rapidly expanding highway and ocean transport industries and allied fields, according to a report published today by the Jewish Agency’s Economic Department here.
About $96,000,000 in new capital is required: an estimated $46,000,000 for new trucks and busses and some $50,000,000 for new passenger and cargo ships, reefers, tankers and fishing boats. New enterprises will be eligible for all benefits of the Israel Law for Encouragement of Capital Investments, provided they bring to Israel new equipment and an adequate supply of spare parts. These benefits include: convertibility of earnings into foreign currency, up to 10 percent yearly; exemption from import duties, and tax reductions.
Three types of investment are open in the field of highway transportation, the report emphasized. They are: 1. Partnership with existing companies to serve new routes; 2. Establishment of new companies to serve new routes; 3. Leasing vehicles to existing operators. Similar alternatives apply to shipping and to practically every type of industry and commercial enterprise in Israel.
Auxiliary fields in the area of transportation are the manufacture of automotive parts and ship repair facilities, the report said. A recently established American spare-parts rebuilding firm in Israel has a heavy backlog of orders and its production could be greatly expanded if additional machinery were available, it was pointed out.
Modern truck fleets are assured of guaranteed haulage contracts for several years. Likely clients include the Department of Public Works, the Dead Sea Potash Works and Israel Quarries, Ltd., the report stated.
“Increased shipping necessitates the development of local ship repair facilities,” the Jewish Agency report stated. “Existing shipping lines now spend an average of $1,400,000 a year on maintenance, repairs and improvements. Adequate drydocking facilities would permit repairs to both Israel and foreign flag vessels to be made in Israel. The Government regards as desirable the construction of a drydock to accommodate ships of up to 12,000 tons, which is the maximum size of most ships regularly engaged in trade with Israel. Other attractive possibilities in the shipping field include salvage enterprises and the development of coastwise passenger and cargo services.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
