ISRAEL: E-CONOMY BOOMING, 8.5% OF GDP IN 2015

AnsaMed:  (ANSAmed) - JERUSALEM, SEPTEMBER 13 - Israel is the new Silicon Valley and analysts have no doubt about it: the e-conomy is destined to grow further at a rapid pace. The outlook shows that the internet industry will increase at double the speed of other sectors, and will account for 8.5% of gross domestic product in 2015, equal to 85 billion shekels (about 17 billion euros). Currently Israel is the seventh country in the world in terms of internet circulation, and foreign markets and investors have for years been aware of the enormous potential of the small nation. While between 2002 and 2009 exports in general oscillated, in the same period web-related ones rose at a steady pace. And the trend continues: in 2015 sales across-the-border of internet products will account for 3.1% of GDP. This was shown in an important survey on the weight of the internet in the Israeli economy published recently by the international consulting company Kinsey&Co. ''Investments in the internet industry,'' according to the research, ''will rise at an annual rate of 8%, and in 2015 will equal 2% of GDP.'' Young technological entrepreneurs are the new heroes of this ''nations of start-ups'', as Israel has been dubbed. Facebook, Google, Microsoft: always the same ones, the world giants in the IT sector come to Israel to set up branch offices for their research centres and to discover the latest technological feature in a vast range produced by an army of small and medium-sized hi-tech industries. ''There are three reasons behind the success of Israeli technological industries,'' ANSAmed was told by Karine Nahon, Israeli professor and expert on internet and communications at the Washington University. ''The first is cultural: the spirit of initiative is an essential part of the national character.

Israelis are still a population of pioneers. Our country was only born 60 years ago, tearing land away from the desert. We are ambitious people, able to find unconventional solutions to problems.'' A fundamental role is also played by the army, which all citizens spend time in, both men and women. ''Many of today's technological once served in the army in roles connected with the internet. Perhaps they were among the electronic combatants, in the computer department or in intelligence. Having finished their compulsory military service, they used the experience gained to create their own business, Many company plans are born within the army's ranks.

''Israel is a small nation, and this helps us a lot. Here the theory of six degrees of separation is absolutely true.

Usually only a few telephone calls are needed to get into contact with someone you don't know, and to meet with them you need only go a few hundred kilometres at the most. The social infrastructure of a new company is in this way built with little effort.'' (ANSAmed).