Business Scene

Motorola Israel general manager Elisha Yanai presented President Moshe Katsav with Motorola's social responsibility manifest in which the company outlines its commitment to and responsibility for its workers, suppliers and customers.

By GREER FAY CASHMAN
motorola biz 88 298 (photo credit: Courtesy Photo)
motorola biz 88 298
(photo credit: Courtesy Photo)
Motorola Israel general manager Elisha Yanai last week presented President Moshe Katsav with Motorola's social responsibility manifest in which the company outlines its commitment to and responsibility for its workers, suppliers and customers. THE ISRAEL Export Institute will today, Tuesday, host a meeting between representatives of 30 Israeli companies and Petar Goshev, the Governor of the Bank of Macedonia, who is in Israel to boost bilateral commercial and trade ties. Israel's exports to Macedonia in 2005 totalled $3.6 million, which was more or less the same figure as that of 2004. There are 56 Israeli companies engaged in trade with Macedonia. IN 1986 Ernst & Young created the annual Entrepreneur Of The Year Award program in the United States to give recognition to the most successful and innovative entrepreneurs. Since then, the Entrepreneur of the Year Award program has expanded to encompass 35 countries around the globe, including Israel. The award honors the most outstanding entrepreneurs, who inspire others with their vision, leadership, and achievement. The awards ceremony is held in Monaco where Israel will be represented by cVidya President and CEO Alon Aginsky who has been nominated for the 2006 Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in the technology category. Nominees must be owner/managers of privately held companies which are at least two years old, and whose success can be directly attributed to the owner/manager's business strategy. cVidya Networks is a leading provider of next generation revenue assurance solutions. MOTOROLA ISRAEL general manager Elisha Yanai last week presented President Moshe Katsav with Motorola's social responsibility manifest in which the company outlines its commitment to and responsibility for its workers, suppliers and customers. It also notes its importance to the community via the programs it initiates and operates and the emphasis that it places on high standards of business practice. The purpose of the presentation was to set an example of transparency, trust, fairness and accountability in relation to the framework in which the company operates. Motorola's community responsibility has been best translated through its Education 2000 project, which ensures that more qualified hi-tech alumni graduate from institutes of higher learning and make their own contributions to Israel's hi-tech industry. WHAT DO Ophir Paz Pines, Yoram Marciano, Avi Yehezkiel, Gershon Gelman and Raleb Majadele have in common other than the fact that they all succeeded in the Labor primaries? Their other common denominator that relates to this success is Aviram Balzar of Balzar Public Relations and Communications who directed their respective campaign strategies. Paz-Pines has been a Balzar client since the start of his political career. It was Balzar who initially helped to propel him into the Knesset. Marciano, a former deputy mayor of Lod polled 18,000 votes which secured the neighborhood's slot for him on Labor's Knesset list. Yehezkiel, a former deputy minister of transportation, recently returned to the Knesset after Shimon Peres defected from Labor to Kadima, and vacated his seat. Gelman, the Histadrut chairman for the Tel Aviv-Jaffa district, was embroiled in a battle with Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Hulda'i who tried to have him disqualified from running for the Knesset, and therefore started his campaign only a week prior to the primaries. Majadele, chairman of the Knesset Interior Committee, scored the largest number of votes in the Arab sector. Marciano ranks Balzar in the same league as guru-class political strategists Stanley Greenberg, Motti Morel, Yariv Ben Eliezer and Eyal Arad. THE NEW general manager of Harel Investments pension funds and head of Harel's pension funds division is Yossi Cohen. The pension funds division operates within the framework of the company's long-term savings department headed by Michel Sibony, Harel deputy general manager. Cohen has wide experience in founding and managing pension and provident funds. This experience was gained primarily through the Atidit Group which was acquired by Harel. Cohen was a pioneer in marketing pension funds via insurance company agents. BRITISH ENTREPRENEUR David Lewis who has done so much over the past 25 years to boost Israel's tourist industry, primarily by building hotels and turning Eilat into a full-fledged resort center, continues to invest in other parts of the country, as well, and is investing $18 million to upgrade the Ramon Inn in the Negev by building additional rooms, a spa, a restaurant and interior and exterior swimming pools. Lewis' Isrotel chain comprises eight hotels in Eilat, one in the Negev Desert, one in Tel Aviv and one in Haifa. The latter is one of the most popular spas and health farms in the country.