An agreement under which trucks of the Mack Motor Trucks, Inc. , will be assembled in Israel for the requirements of the local market and for export was announced here today at a luncheon held at the Waldorf Astoria, attended by about 250 American businessmen and Israeli representatives in the United States. The agreement was concluded with Ephraim Ilin and Associates, an Israeli enterprise.
Speaking at the luncheon, Israel Ambassador Abba S, Eban said that the agreement is another important step in the economic life of the Jewish state. He emphasized that the economic development of any country depends greatly upon its transportation system and pointed out that private initiative has contributed much to Israel’s technical achievements during the last three years.
The Israel diplomat touched upon the natural resources now discovered in the Negev and indicated that it is the ambition of the Israel Government to increase the productivity of the country. Israel aims to serve as an example for economic development to other countries in the Middle East, he declared.
Jonathan B. Bingham, acting administrator of the Technical Cooperation Administration of the U.S. State Department, called the agreement “a splendid example of what private initiative can do in furthering the development of countries and peoples who are not as fortunately placed economically as we are. ” The trucks, he said, would be a great help in Israel’s own transportation system and as a possible export.
E. D. Bransome, president and chairman of the board of Mack Trucks, Inc. , pointed out that the agreement is important for the future of private enterprise. “It brings together two free business concerns, managed by private individuals, inspired by private initiative, and financed by private funds. It is a link in the chain of world-wide free enterprise, “he said.
Ephraim Ilin, Israeli motor vehicle manufacturer, pointed out that a “big slice” of Israel’s budget–$50,000,000 in three years–has gone into highway construction. “I am convinced that the shipment of American trucks for assembly at Haifa, combined with the energy and resourcefulness of the people of Israel, will increase our country’s capacity for winning the battle of production in which we are engaged.”
The agreement, believed to be the first to provide for the assembly of American trucks in Israel, calls for the equipping of the Israel corporation’s new plant near Haifa to assemble trucks to Mack specifications. Mack parts and service depots will be set up in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Beersheba. The first Mack units will probably be shipped to Israel in March.
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