Israeli government to create $41m Israeli-Arab private equity fund

Aiman Saif, general director of the Authority for the Economic Development of the Arab Sector (part of the prime minister’s office) told Middle Eastern news service The Media Line that his department will put ILS80m ($20.7m) into the fund, which will be offered to the private sector for investment in the next two weeks.

“We expect that the private sector will put another ILS80m, so that we will have a fund for ILS160m to be invested in businesses in the Arab sector,” Saif said.

He added, “We are trying to help the Israeli-Arab sector to be integrated in the Israeli economy because we think there is a great potential in the Israeli Arab sector that is not being used. We want to help the Arab sector exploit the potential within this sector and by doing so to help the Israeli economy achieve higher growth rates.”

According to TML, the problems faced by Israeli-Arab businessmen include the lack of infrastructure and complex local land laws.

The Authority for the Economic Development of the Arab Sector was established in 2007 to encourage economic and business activity within Israel's Arab community, and integrate Israeli-Arabs into the country's economy.

Copyright © 2009 AltAssets