Israel Taps Arabs for High-Tech Skills, Reports CMP's TechWeb
Business Wire - December 29, 1997 00:33
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MANHASSET, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 29, 1997--
Israeli/Jordanian Joint Venture Will Develop Software Aimed at Helping Solve the Year 2000 Problem
Despite the near-collapse of the Middle East peace process and the growing tensions between Israel and its Arab neighbors, the Jewish state is starting to tap its Arab neighbors to solve a growing high-tech staff shortage, according to a report posted on CMP's TechWeb (http://www.techweb.com).
According to the technology news site, earlier this month several dozen Jordanian programmers and engineers arrived in Jerusalem to begin the first phase of a ground-breaking cooperation between an Israeli software developer and an Arab company.
The Jordanians are being trained by Malam Systems, a leading Israeli software company that is the first Israeli software developer to establish a joint-venture software development company with a Jordanian company. Jerusalem-based Malam Systems is the first Israeli company to set up shop in Jordan. It has already opened an office in Amman, the Jordanian capital, as part of the joint venture with Jordan's Century Investment company.
Traditionally, Israeli high-tech companies have shied away from co-operation with companies in Arab countries, partly because reliance on Arab technology and skills is seen as creating a possible security risk. Much of Israel's high-tech industry is either military-oriented, or uses spin-off technology from the military.
But despite years of such distrust -- and enmity between the Arab governments and the Israeli authorities -- Israeli companies are being forced to search for labor in Arab countries to overcome a huge labor shortage. Malam and its Jordanian partner said they plan initially to invest $2 million in the software venture.
Fittingly, the joint venture will develop software aimed at helping solve the year 2000 problem, a worldwide problem that is causing severe labor shortages.
The Jordanian joint venture will act as a sub-contractor for Malam and will eventually employ up to 200 workers, Moshe Wolfson, Malam Vice President for International Sales told TechWeb. Among the big advantages for the Israeli company is the salary differential. Jordanian wages are only one-third of those paid in Israel.
Israeli software industry executives have generally welcomed the co-operation. However, one senior official said he expected such co-operation to be limited to sub-contracting, with control of product development remaining firmly in Israel.
The cross-border search for workers and joint ventures in the high- tech field may be the first of its kind, but it won't be the last. The Shimon Peres Peace Institute recently announced plans to raise $100 million from international sources for investing in high-tech joint ventures between Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and Jordan.
Within Israel, foreign companies have already been tapping the high-tech skills of the Palestinian community. One major international company, Siemens AG, has already cooperated with the Palestinians. The giant German electronics has set up a joint research and development center with a Palestinian software house in Ramallah, on the West Bank. The center is run by Siemens' Israeli subsidiary, Data Communications of Carmiel, in northern Israel.
Several Palestinian engineers are already being trained in Carmiel. They are due to return to Ramallah next year and serve as the core of the new venture, which will develop data communications products. Siemens said it hopes to employ 100 Palestinians in Ramallah within three years.
The full TechWeb report can be found at techweb.com.
TechWeb is the technology news component of CMPnet, the most comprehensive technology network on the Internet. CMPnet (http://www.CMPnet.com) reaches the broad spectrum of builders, sellers and users of technology and the Internet, and is consistently one of the top 10 sites across the entire Web in advertising revenue, according to Jupiter Communications. The network integrates powerful content sites such as TechWeb, TechInvestor, TechTools, TechShopper, NetGuide, ChannelWeb, EDTN, GamePower, File Mine and Net Insider, as well as all of CMP's publication sites.
CMP Media Inc. (Nasdaq: CMPX) is a leading print and online publisher of newspapers and magazines about technology and an innovator in technology-related Internet products and services. CMP's offerings serve the broad technology spectrum in key high-tech markets worldwide: those who build technology, those who sell it, and those who use it. The company's publication titles, which include EE Times, InformationWeek, Computer Reseller News and Windows Magazine.
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