The Conference for the Promotion of Export Businesses in the Arab Sector

Yesterday I attended a conference in Nazareth on the promotion of export businesses in the Arab sector; a field that is becoming more and more popular in Israel, but still not as strong as it should be in the Arab sector, another consequence of all the issues that I have, and continue to look at in my research.
Among others, at the conference were the Minister of Industry, Trade, and Labor (MITL), Mr. Benjamin (Fuad) Ben-Eliezer; and the Head of the Department for Economic Development for the Arab, Druz and Circassian sectors in the Office of the Prime Minister, Mr. Aiman Seif, with whom I am meeting next Tuesday in Jerusalem.

At the conference were several business owners, economists, and other business people from both the Jewish and Arab sectors. The speakers discussed the above mentioned issues and the economic and political barriers to trade growth among the Arab sector. Some very interesting points were made at the conference. Among them; the MITL made note of the (unfortunate) fact that the problems are deep seated and old, thus changing them is not something that can be done in a day, and requires the support and work of many people and will take time. Mr. Dov Lautman, Chair of the Advising Committee for Investments in the Arab Sector in the Office of the Prime Minister, pointed out that an entrepreneur who isn't optimistic won't get anywhere. Dr. Safya Amin, CEO of Sarab Group, claimed that "if we look back, we will never go forward". These were only some of the notions introduced in the conference, which gave a sense of optimism and hope for business growth in the Arab Sector.

It was also interesting to note that many of the speakers with "success stories" in export had businesses relating to food; a fact that was also referred to at the conference as not being consequential, for the Arab communities are known for being strong in this field.

One of the things that I liked most in this conference, is the fact that there was an almost equal number of Jewish, Arab, male, and female participants, eluding to a real strive for equality in this field.