The Bank of Israel Foreign Exchange Activity Department advises that in September 2005 the NIS depreciated against the dollar by 1.2 percent, and against the currency basket by 0.6 percent

The Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) predicted last week that Israel will have 5.1% GDP growth and 6.4% business product growth in 2005

The monthly Procurement Managers Index calculated by D&B Israel and the Israel Purchasing and Logistics Managers Association for September 2005, showed falling domestic demand but rising export demand

Meir Sheetrit, Transport Minister, appointed last week a special investigation team to examine the circumstances of the collision on September 29 between an Israeli container ship, "Zim Asia" and a Japanese fishing vessel in which seven Japanese fisherman

David Luxemburg, president of The newly rstablished Israel-Kazakhstan Chamber of Commerce and Industry announced last week that the chamber would mediate negotiations between the two countries on R&D in space

After admitting that one of the company's ships was involved in the collision last week with the Japanese fishing boat, Zim's chairman Idan Ofer made a formal apology to the families of the seven Japanese fishermen killed when the Israeli ship collided wi

The Israel Tax Authority reported last week that imports of goods, excluding diamonds, fell unexpectedly in September 2005 by 5.1% to $3.17 billion, from $3.34 billion in August

The Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor reported last week that in September 2005 polished diamond exports totaled $704 million, 24% more than the $567 million exported in September 2004