Following the initiative in Ashdod the North Chamber of Commerce is forming a group of local businessmen to buy out the Haifa port, when it is privatized
The Haifa and the North Chamber of Commerce is understood to be forming a group of local businessmen to buy out the Haifa port, when it is privatized. The businessmen intend to incorporate a joint business to make the purchase.
Haifa Chamber of Commerce president Oded Feller, said in a press release that: "the group includes top businessmen from the northern area”, and that the group would "be capable of ensuring long-term financial stability and a substantial volume of activity in the port."
In an interview Feller added that "Local entrepreneurs believe in the Haifa port and its capabilities". He also noted that: "We believe the port can be, with proper management and investment, the principal Mediterranean port, where goods are shipped for all countries in the region. The requests we have received reflect a will to bring the Haifa port toward this goal, and I have no doubt that port workers will see the introduction of members of the private sector as a business opportunity for themselves as well, since this initiative sees them as an integral part of the privatization."
The government approved the seaport reform in February, 2005. The reform includes a schedule for gradual privatization of the ports, beginning in 2010, when 15% of their shares are set to be floated on the stock market, and ending with a full privatization (more than 50%) only in 2020.
