A five-year plan which will make Israel one of the worlds leading producers of potash and bromides was unveiled today by Major General Mordechai Makleff, director-general of the Dead Sea Potash Plant. The World Bank, he said, agreed to lend $35,000,000 on the condition that the rest of the money could be mobilized from private sources. Accordingly, the company was preparing to float shares for $15,000,000, he stated.
The plan calls for the building of 178 feet long dams which will turn about 50 square miles into a huge evaporating plant. The project will be completed in three years at the cost of $50,400,000 and would increase potash production to 400,000 tons annually. At a later stage, a further investment of $14,000,000 would increase potash production to 900,000 tons. Under the plan, exports in 1967 would soar to $30,000,000 annually, compared to $4,500,000 today.
The plan also calls for an increase in bromide production that would make Israel the world’s third largest producer and would increase table salt production to 25,000 tons annually. Half of the planned products will be exported via Eilat to Africa and the Far East.
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