At a press briefing in Tel Aviv today, Comverse chairman and president Kobi Alexander threatened that the company would not stay in Israel if it does not receive support from the State. "Israel should support a company such as Comverse, or Comverse won't be here," Alexander said in response to a question by "Globes" on why Comverse needed support from the State.
Alexander added, "The State of Israel need not help us. We don't deserve it. But if it wants us to stay here, it had better offer us adequate support - be it in the taxation process or through the Chief Scientist. If the State of Israel wants to attract genuine industries that generate employment, it should tempt them to stay on."
Alexander also criticized the view that the State should support start-up companies rather than large companies: "Why support small companies? The amount of money on the Israeli capital market is unparalleled. If a company fails to raise funds, it probably doesn't deserve to."
In response to the question of whether Comverse would relocate to another country if it did not receive support, Alexander said, "We're Zionists, and we're going to stay here. What's at issue is our growth level in the future. Suppose we have to hire 100 engineers - will we hire 80 in Israel and 20 abroad, or vice versa?"
According to data issued by the company, it directly employs 2,560 workers in Israel, and several times as many are indirectly employed through subcontractors.
Referring to yesterday's meeting between leading high-tech company managers and Minister of Finance Avraham Shochat on hiring foreign engineers and programmers, Alexander said, "I didn't come away encouraged. The whole market isn't exploited in a serious way. High-tech company general managers can't just while away the time with every government officials."
Published by Israel's Business Arena on 12 July, 2000