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Australian Jewish Investor to Move Assets to Israel Despite Judicial Reform Opposition
Foreign Investors Have Plenty of Incentive to Place Money in Israel
Edited by: Fern Sidman
As the staunch opponents of judicial reform in Israel continue their BDS-like pressure campaign to hurt the democratically elected government in Israel through methods of isolating it, Israel National News has recently reported that Jewish-Australian entrepreneur and investor Kevin Bermeister has announced that he will move more of his assets to Israel in the wake of calls from the leftist opposition to remove such foreign investments from Israel.
Bermeister, the founder of the “Jerusalem Development Fund”, and the founding investor in a number of successful technology and real estate ventures, including Brilliant Digital Entertainment, Skype and Jerusalem Development Fund, is currently in Israel and made time to give Israel National News an interview.
Bermeister told Israel National News that he is in the process of “moving assets to Israel.” He added that, “We’ve been here for quite some time already, invested in real estate, we’re building a thousand residential units at the moment. We have three hotels in construction. And we’ve also invested in technology for tourism, virtual reality 3D animation where we have companies here operating.”
The investor also told INN that, “We also have some new assets coming to Israel in the advertising industry and hopefully in the not too distant future we’ll see some of our big data analysis in the genetics industry coming here to Israel. We’ve already conducted research here in the past and we’ll continue to do that going forward into the future.” He added that he thinks Israel is “fantastic.”
“We’ve been very successful here so far, and I expect that that will continue. The tech industry is having a little bit of difficulty at the moment, as everybody knows that will pass, and I think we can continue to grow talent here. Talent is super brilliant in Israel and truly makes a big difference in the application of technologies for the world – new innovative ideas happening here very quickly,” Bermeister said in the INN interview.
“I’m looking forward to a bright future here in Israel and you know I come here very regularly and I intend to continue to do that, “he promised.
According to a report on the lloydsbanktrade.com web site, Israel has a liberal investment system and most activities are open to both private national and foreign investors, ranking the country 12th among the top 20 host countries.
“According to UNCTAD’s World Investment Report 2022, Israel’s investment flow increased by 22% in 2021, reaching $29.6 billion. In the same year, the stock of foreign direct investment stood at $235.6 billion, around 48.9% of the country’s GDP. Most of the foreign direct investments to Israel are directed towards manufacturing (especially for electronics equipment, like computers), information and communication, professional, scientific and technical activities, and financial and insurance activities, “ according to lloydsbanktrade.com.
In terms of countries, the United States and the Netherlands are the main partners (U.S. firms account for nearly two-thirds of the more than 300 research and development centers established by multinational companies in the country). Furthermore, Chinese investment in Israel has grown rapidly in recent years, particularly in software, IT services and consumer electronics. According to OECD data, FDI flows to Israel amounted to $11.6 billion in the first half of 2022, down by 24.1% from the level recorded in the same period one year earlier ($15.3 billion), the site indicated.
The lloydsbanktrade.com web site also added that, “Israel has a number of assets appealing to foreign investors, including a high-skilled and multilingual workforce and a strong R&D sector (at 5.44% of GDP it has the world’s highest research and development intensity, over twice the OECD average of 2.26% – World Bank), advanced procedures and industrial technologies, governmental incentives and grants to foreign investors, a lean bureaucracy and a diversified economy. The hi-tech sector, especially start-ups, has attracted a great deal of foreign investment.”
The strong advantages in investing in Israel include the fact that Israel is the country that invests the most in research and development in the world (5.4% of GDP in 2020, CBS), as was reported by lloydsbanktrade.com. Moreover, they have a highly skilled workforce, particularly in engineering and high technology as well as strong and stable private consumption.
Besides rising real wages, Israel has strong political stability due, on the one hand, to its stable democratic system and on the other hand to the political and financial support of the United States, as was reported by lloydsbanktrade.com.
The report also indicated that Israel discovered significant offshore reserves of natural gas, which would enable the country to reduce its energy dependence and create new development opportunities.
In terms of government measures to motivate those who would consider placing some of their assets in Israel, lloydsbanktrade.com reported that foreign investment is encouraged in Israel by the recently revised Investment Promotion Act. The recent amendment to this law adds a tax incentive program.
The government in place is also seeking to provide the necessary support to entrepreneurs and the entrepreneurial ecosystem: many start-ups are emerging in Israel, particularly in information and communication technologies (ICT), according to the report.
The Law for the Encouragement of Capital Investments provides assistance in the form of grants and tax breaks to companies classified as “Priority Enterprise.”
