Outgoing Israeli Envoy Talks of Relations with Ecuador

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced that it was recognizing the credentials of Sinai Rome, newly appointed Israeli Ambassador to Ecuador will full diplomatic powers. He will replace the incumbent Ambassador. Itzhak Shefi, at the end of June. Rome, a career diplomat with the Israeli Foreign Ministry, has previously served in the Israeli Embassies in Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Cuba. This is his first appointment as Ambassador.

Ambassador Shefi, in a farewell interview, covered the areas that he felt were of major importance to Israeli-Ecuadorian relations during his close to four years as Ambassador here. He noted that Israel purchased two million barrels of oil from CEPE, the state-run oil company, last year for cash. Israel, in 1975, had a trade surplus of $3 million with Ecuador and accordingly bought oil for “a normal price plus, for political reasons.” Shefi said because “we wanted to show them that business means a two-way street.” Israeli exports to this as yet underdeveloped manufacturing country have traditionally been in the agricultural and industrial spheres, including planes, fertilizer, irrigation equipment and whole factory set-ups complete with technical advisors, such as an orange packaging plant built in Bolivia Province.

SAUDIAN LOAN

“We can sell a lot to Ecuador because it’s still a country without basic industry.” the Ambassador remarked. Trading volume is not expected to expand very much beyond current levels due to several factors, including the lack of regular shipping lines and the resultant difficulty in guaranteeing prompt delivery as well as the inability to compete on a meaningful basis with the two foreign economic giants selling in the region, the United States and Japan. Nevertheless, in Shefi’s opinion, Israel is “penetrating here, slowly but surely.”

Ecuador is an OPEC nation, albeit the smallest and most insignificant one in terms of annual oil exports. Recently it has been looking to the Arab oil nations for financing of its ambitious development plans; however, to date, there have been few results beyond a $22 million loan by Saudi Arabia earmarked for the financing of the construction of the first stage of a hydroelectric plant in the town of Paute. Speaking of loans and the acknowledged but as yet unpublicized strings attached to the Saudi loan Shefi expressed “hope there will not be political clauses in money arrangements (with the Arabs).”

Ambassador Shefi stressed that Israel has built on its traditional friendship in the past with Ecuador by supplying technical assistance and that this will remain the most important aspect in their future inter-relations. Israeli advisors are working in many diverse fields with their Ecuadorian counterparts.