Trade with new EU members up 32%

According to an analysis made by the Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce of Statistic figures, published last week by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Israeli trade with the ten new members of the EU is 32% higher, compared with trade before the EU expansion on May 1, 2004.
 
The ten new members are:The Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, , Slovakia, Slovenia. Israeli trade with the ten countries in May-October rose by 32%, or $152 million, to $621 million. Israeli exports to these ten new member countries rose by 41% in January-October 2004, compared with the corresponding period in 2003, to $582 million. Imports rose by 34% to $465 million. The Federation of Chambers of Commerce pointed out that Israeli trade with the ten new members amounted to 5% of trade with the EU and 2% of total Israeli foreign trade.
 
Mr. Lynn said that the published trade figures indicated that "the ten new EU members increased their investment potential in the Euro bloc." Lynn added that recent changes in these 10 countries and their becoming target for foreign investment required changes in Israel's taxation policies, in order to make the Israeli market globally competitive.
 
The trade analysis show that out of the total import to Israel from the ten new members Hungary exported 32%, Cyprus 26%, The Czech Republic 17% and Poland 14%.
Out of the total export from Israel : Cyprus 48%, Poland 17%, Hungary 11%, The Czech Republic 10%.