63% of kibbutz factories internally owned

While 63% of kibbutz factories are fully owned by the kibbutz on which they are located, 23% of the factories have an external partner among their owners, 8% have stock traded on the Tel Aviv bourse and 6% are partially owned by another kibbutz or kibbutz-based business, the Kibbutz Industry Association said Monday. Association President Yonatan Melamed said investors are attracted to kibbutz industry as a long-term investment due to high quality of the labor force at all levels, rejuvenated management and the cooperational ethos. Kibbutz factories account for about 10% of Israeli industry, with 30,000 workers and a production volume of about NIS 30 billion, of which more than one-third is exported.