In advance of the Foreign Trade Conference that takes place in Israel Wednesday, the Economy Ministry published the Israeli exports data, revealing that the market that has shown the sharpest growth in absorbing Israeli exports was China, rising from 2% of Israel’s overall exports to 6%. The Turkish market has also shown a significant increase.
However, the US market has experienced a relative drop: in 2000 the US bought 32% of Israel’s exports, now they’re down to only 24%. The Asian markets have also gone down, with the exception of China and India.
The chief of the Foreign Trade Administration at the Economy Ministry, Ohad Cohen, told Army Radio on Sunday that “Israeli exports have been at a halt in the past few years. They are not developing in the direction we would have wanted. I don’t think it’s related to the boycotts against Israel. There’s only a very narrow selection of products that are hurt by those.”
Regarding the drop in exports to the US, Cohen said the fact that it’s shrinking does not trouble him as long as the overall trend is of increases in Israeli exports. Which is why his office is attempting to push Israeli products to additional markets, such as Asia, Latin America and Africa.