Israel Hopes to Double Its Trade with Britain over Next Three Years

Israel hopes to double its trade with Britain over the next three years, from the present level of almost half a billion Pounds Sterling, Gideon Patt, Israeli Minister of Commerce and Industry, said here.

Patt spoke after a meeting of the two countries’ joint Economic Committee which Israeli officials described as the most promising they had ever held Britain had given positive assurances over many of Israel’s worries, including the impact of enlarging the European Economic Community (EEC), the possibility of tripartite ventures with Egypt, and the Arab boycott.

Israel fears that 40 percent of her food processing industry could be endangered when Spain, Portugal and Greece join the Common Market. She is particularly worried about the effect on her citrus industry. Spain already supplies 55 percent of the EEC’s citrus imports and will become even more competitive once she enjoys EEC subsidies. Some 65 percent of Israel’s citrus goes to the EEC, although this is only 15 percent of the community’s citrus imports.

Britain showed understanding for Israel’s worries and promised to air them in the EEC’s discussions about the Community’s enlargement. This is partly because Britain herself as a major citrus importer, wants to avoid the price rises which Spain’s accession could cause.

It was the British delegation, led by Trade Minister Cecil Parkinson, which raised the issue of Egyptian-Israeli economic ties and the possibility of British participation in three-party ventures. One Egyptian-Israeli venture in which the British were invited to take part is a deep sea fishing company.

PLEASED ABOUT ARAB BOYCOTT STATEMENT

The Israelis were also pleased about Britain’s use of the word “abhorrence of the Arab boycott,” in a joint statement signed Monday. The British are understood to have said that the government itself would not sign any contract containing a boycott clause and that Britain had recently refrained from bidding for a major international tender because of this. This was the first meeting of the two countries joint committee headed by trade ministers and also attended by businessmen from both sides.

The Israelis attributed the new warmth of the British delegation to the fact that, following the Iranian revolution and setbacks for British businessmen in other Middle Eastern states, Israel is now Britain’s third largest Middle East trading partner, after Saudi Arabia and Dubai. Israeli sales to the UK last year were worth 227 million Pounds Sterling, composed with 270 million worth of UK exports to Israel. One hundred British investment projects are in the pipeline.