Electronics Industries Association chairman Zohar Zisapel: The global crisis will lead to a decrease in the growth rate of electronic industries and investments by foreign and Israeli investors.
"Growth in Vishay Israel has stopped for the time being due to the global crisis. Sales in Asia, both of Vishay and other electronic components manufacturers, have fallen and companies’ profitability has therefore decreased," said Dr. Felix Zandman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Vishay today. Zandman said that at Vishay itself profits have fallen slightly, but there was "great pressure on profits which forces us to manufacture in locations where labor is cheaper."
Electronics and software industry heads at the Manufacturers’ Association and the Electronics Industries Association held a joint meeting on the situation of the sector. They estimate that the latest devaluations in the shekel exchange rate against the dollar help Israeli high-tech industries improve their profitability, due to the high rate of exports in the sector.
However, Electronics Industries Association chairman Zohar Zisapel notes that the economic crisis in the global market and its arrival on Israel’s doorstep will cause "a drop in the electronic industry’s growth level, due to decreased demand in markets exposed to the crisis." Zisapel further notes that "foreign investors will not be happy to invest in remote countries, and Israel is a remote country from their point of view."
Published by Israel's Business Arena October 19, 1998