In the first quarter of 2006, Israeli exports to Arab countries rose 35% as opposed to the same period last year, for a total of $57 million, revealed Yechiel Assia, Director General of the Israel Export & International Cooperation Institute. The Export Institute announced that these figures do not include indirect exports to Arab states via third-party countries – amounting to some $3 million in Q106 – in the form of joint projects between Israel and Arab companies.
According to Assia, 27 Israeli firms are currently exporting to Iraq, mainly to the American army (telecommunications equipment, machinery and gear). These companies exported a volume of $320,000 to Iraq in the first quarter of the year, comprising a 46% increase over the corresponding period last year. In 2005, all exports to Iraq peaked at $780,000.
The Director General of the Israeli Export Institute added that 1,343 Israeli exporters are currently active in Jordan – a 25% decline compared to 2005. The Export Institute’s data analysis indicates that exports to Jordan decreased in the first quarter of this year by 6% compared to the same period last year, with a total of $26.5 million. Most of the exports are lumber, furniture, paper and printed matter, machinery and equipment.
Assia stated that last year saw a 110% rise in the number of Israeli exporters working with Egypt, for a current total of 257. In the first quarter of this year, industrial exports to Egypt grew 148.5% compared to the same period in 2005, for a total of $26.5 million. Most of the exports consisted of textiles, clothing, etc., chemicals and refined fuel.
The Export Institute data also indicates that 46 Israeli exporters are currently active in Morocco, say a 64% rise over 2005, and that in the first quarter of the year exports to Morocco went up by 23.5% for a total of $2 million. Exports to Tunisia in Q106 dropped 16% compared to the same period last year, totaling $0.5 million.
