Israel's defense industries won export orders worth $5b in 2006
The annual value of defense export contracts has tripled since the mid-1990s.
Amnon Barzilai 29 Mar 07 09:38
The value of new contracts won by Israel's defense industries reached an all-time high of $5 billion in 2006, Minister of Defense Amir Peretz revealed in a meeting with defense industry chiefs at his office.
The volume of new contract wins surprised defense ministry officials, since the forecast sum was $500 million less. SIBAT - Foreign Defense Assistance and Defense Export Organization deputy director Meir Shalit told "Globes" that the total sum was just tens of millions of dollars short of $5 billion and that once the boards of the various defense industries had finished gathering all the data by the end of next month, the value of the contract wins would cross the $5 billion threshold.
The number of new contract wins differs from the actual export figure, which is lower, but it expresses the ongoing increase in the defense industries' orders backlog, an increase that highlights their stability. The number of new contracts won by Israel's defense industries has more than tripled since the mid 1990s.
Peretz said that 32,000 people worked in Israel's defense industries and a similar number of people were employed by companies that act as subcontractors for them. He added that despite budgetary constraints, the defense sector's R&D capacity would not be harmed, so as to ensure the ongoing development of weapons systems that guarantee the IDF's qualitative edge.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on March 29, 2007
