Telecoms expo scheduled for November

Anna Cox TRADE BETWEEN Israel and South Africa reached $500 billion in 2001. That's according to Elad Stav, First Secretary of Economic Affairs at the Embassy of Israel's Trade Centre in Johannesburg, who told FTW that over 40% of Israeli exports to South Africa were high-tech and telecommunications equipment. Speaking about a major telecommunications conference and exhibition to be held in Israel from November 4 to 7, Stav said that Israel's telecommunications industry had been a major driving force behind the country's economic growth over the past decade. After the US, Israel has more high-tech start-ups than any other country in the world and is second only to Canada in terms of foreign presence on Wall Street. "We are encouraging South Africans to attend this major exhibition. Our message to business people is that it is perfectly safe to travel to Israel for this purpose. We are aware of the security situation and steps have been taken in this regard." A parallel event will be a Prime Ministers' conference for Solidarity of the International Business Community with Business in Israel.