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外文题目：The Isr ael High Tech-Industy -Fifty Year s ofExcellence 处：Isr ael M nistr yOf RoreignAffairs

出

作者：Nisso Cohen

The Isr ael High-Tech Industr y -Fifty Year s ofExcellence

B y Nisso

C oh en

Israelshigh-techindustry is experiencing an unprecedented rate ofgrowth whichbeganintheearly1990s.Its growth is evidenced both in total sales - 1997 salestotaled $7.2 billion,a growth of 10.7% over1996 - andin exports - $5.6 billion in1997,agrowthof14.2%over1996.Thisisinacountrywithatotalpopulationoflessthansixmillion;GDP(1996)o f$92.3billion;and exports(goodsandservices,1996)of$31.3billion.

Moreover,advancedtechnologies developed in Israel are in great demand, andmany Israeli-developed applications can now be found in the products ofmulti-national companies in the communications, computers, information systems,medicine,optics,consumergoodsandsoftwaresectors.

Origins

The Israel high-tech industry was born with the State of Israel. In 1948, thenewly-created Israel Defense Forces established a branch called the Science Corps.The corpsdeveloped new arms, explosives, and a variety of electric and

electronicappliancesfortheIDF.Israelsmilitaryindustrydevelopedatarapidpace,meetingthecountrysneedsfo rarmamentsandtechnologieswhichitcouldnotobtainfromabroad.Duringthesameperiod,Israeldevelopedw hatweretobecomethebestinstitutionsofeducationandscientificresearchintheMiddleEast.TheyincludetheT echnion-IsraelInstitute ofTechnology in Haifa, the WeizmannInstitute ofSciencein Rehovot,theHebrew University inJerusalem, anduniversitiesinHaifa, BeerSheba, TelAvivandRamatGan.Inthe early sixties,Israel enteredthe nuclear era withthe establishmentof tw o nu cl ea r re sea rc h plants.

ThefirstIsraeli computer was developed andassembled inthe early fifties at theWeizmannInstitute.Golem("dummy")was an all-tube computer, similar tothefirstcomputersdevelopedinthe US intheforties.Inthelate fiftiesandearly sixties,therewerealreadyseveral mainframe computersinIsrael, purchased fromIBM andPhilco.Those computers were used primarily by government ministries and institutions,universitiesanda numberofbanks.Inthelatesixtiesandearly

seventies,mainframeandminicomputerspenetratedthefinancialandbusinesssectors.During theeighties,manyIsraelisacquiredpersonalcomputers.

T he H i g h-Te ch Industry

Onefactorintheexceptionalgrowthrateinthis industry in recentyears is Israelspercentageofengineers,theworldshighest,with135 engineersper10,000 persons,ascomparedto85per10,000personsintheUnited States.Anotherfactorhas beenthemanythousandsofskilledengineersandtechnicianswhohaveimmigratedfromtheformerSovietUnio nsince1989.

Moreover,advanced technologies that were originally developed and utilized formilitarypurposesarenowbeingused fordevelopingcommercial productsforcivilianuse. With the downsizing of Israels defense industry - as a "peace dividend" -thousandsofskilledpersonnelhave left the defense industry since 1988. Many ofthem were absorbed into the civilian marketplace, while others formed start-upcompanieswhichlaterbecamesuccessfulhigh-techfirms.

TheongoingsuccessoftheIsraelihigh-techindustry is reflected inthe local andforeignstockmarkets.In1996 Israeli firms provided the third largest number ofinitialpurchaseofferings(IPOs) on theNAS DAQ (over-the-counterstock exchange)inNewYork,aftertheUSandCanada,andthesecondlargestnumberofIPOsontherelatively new AIM (Alternative InvestmentMarket)inLondon(aftertheUK).ManyleadingAmericaninvestmenthouses and venture capital funds have established apresenceinIsrael in order to support Israeli high-tech firms and benefit from thecu rre nt boom.

Israelsleadersare proud of the countrys high-tech "label" and promote it. Theresultisthatthecountryisparticularlyinterestedincooperationwithforeigninvestorsin the hi g h-tec h fi el d s, m ore tha n w i th inv e stors i n other a rea s.

AuniqueIsraeliphenomenonistheofficeoftheChiefScientistattheMinistryofIndustryandTrade, which distributes grants totaling nearly $400 million to variousR&D projects. The projects that succeed are expectedto pay royalties to the ChiefScientistsoffice fora numberofyears. DomesticTechnologicalAdvancement

Israelhasfirmlyestablisheditself as the mostcomputerizedcountry intheMiddleEast;itevensurpassessome WesternEuropean nations.In1997, morethan 250,000personalcomputerswere soldin Israel, compared to 102,000 sold in Egypt(with apopulationofsome60million)and justunder300,000 inTurkey (witha populationofsome65 million).

IsraelalsoleadstheMiddleEastwiththehighestpenetrationrateofPCsinprivatehomes.There is a personal computer in nearly one out of two households, a ratiosimilartothatoftheUnitedStates,CanadaandaveryfewEuropeanandFarEasterncountries.Inrecentyears ,theeducationsystemhaspurchased tens ofthousands ofcomputersforuseby students,fromkindergartenthroughuniversity age.

Comparedtootherso-calledhigh-tech'tigers',suchasKorea,MalaysiaandTaiwan,Israel is unique in that it is a "true" high-tech country, with a highly developeddomestic market for computing and telecommunications. Israel is also a "quickadopter"ofadvanced technologies. Local expenditure on information technology isestimated at $2.4 billion in 1997, with a steady growth of 12-15% annually.Worldwide, expenditureoninformationtechnology reaches about$700 billion,witha