The high-tech park that will be built near Ben Gurion University of the Negev will have 400,000 sq.m. of space, said university vice president and director-general Dr. Israel German, who also serves as the general manager for the park management company which is being set up. The park management company is jointly owned by Ben Gurion University and the Beer Sheva municipality. The space will be zoned for R&D, incubators, service and maintenance providers, commercial entities, sports centers, and restaurants.
Participants in the park management company’s founding meeting included university president and park management company vice chairman Prof. Avishay Braverman, Beer Sheva mayor Yaakov Turner, park management company chairman David Brodet, Scitex CEO Yoav Chelouche, former Bezeq International general manager Moshe Haba, and Soroka Hospital head Dr. Eitan Hai-Am.
Dr. German said the local planning and building committee approved construction of the 600 dunam (150 acres) park a few days ago. The project’s goals were presented at the planning meeting, as follows: 50,000 sq.m. on 150 dunam (42.5 acres) will be built in the first stage, lasting 3-5 years, with 10-20 R&D centers being built by Israeli and international companies and the National Biotechnology Center. The park will employ 1,000 professionals. The first stage also includes moving the North Beer Sheva train station from its present location to a site between the university and the park, which will serve as the main entrance to the park.
Prof. Braverman said the development of metropolitan Beer Sheva as a high-tech center based on Ben Gurion University, the establishment of a high-speed train connecting the city with Tel Aviv in only 40 minutes, and an international airport at Nabatim, will bring about the realization of the primary national enterprise – building a new Israel in the Negev.
Published by Israel's Business Arena on 8 July 2001