The Manufacturers Association of Israel (MAI) revealed last week that Israeli exports to Saudi Arabia totaled USD 470,000 in the first half of 2006, constituting a rise of 10% compared to the first half of 2005

The Israel Motor Vehicles Importers Association reported last week that 101,692 vehicles were delivered in Israel in January-August 2006, 2.5% more than during the parallel period of 2005

International police agency Interpol had accepted Israel into its European region. The decision came during Interpol's general assembly held week before last in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

John Mullen, head of DHL Express' global operations visited Israel last week for the inauguration of DHL's Israel new offices. For Mullen, the visit to Israel is the first

Uzani revealed that the company had began talks with its workers to provide quality service 24 hours per day. The port would move to 23H work in the first stage, and will later move to full 24H

The Israel Civil Aviation Authority reported last week that air travel to and from Israel was down 6% in August 2006 compared to August 2005, down to one million passengers from 1.07 million

Economic expansion slowed down in the two months period, July-August, because of the Lebanon war

Exports in January-August 2006, excluding diamonds, totaled $19.9 billion. Imports from the US were up by an annualized 18%, imports from the EU were up by 15%