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The Economy Israeli company Lamont, controlled by "Capital Holdings", has bought a building complex in the center of Manhattan (known as UN Plaza), for $161 million. The complex was sold by New York City Hall and the buildings are mostly offices and parking lots, leased on long-term contracts to international institutions such as the UN. Israeli engineering company Baran, has signed an agreement to purchase 72% of an American company which deals with telecom infrastructure, for $15 million. The American company began posting losses in 2001 and it now has a payroll of 100 compared with 200 employees last year. According to estimates, the telecom infrastructure sector in the US will return to its former performance levels within a few months. New Zealand company "Pantera" is embarking on a joint biotechnological R&D with Israel's milk product producer, "Tnuva", and will be investing NIS 40 million on the development of new milk and whey products. At this stage, the two companies are reviewing the possibility of developing pharmaceuticals for veterinary use, medication for humans and food additives. The projects will be based on the output of Tnuva's new why processing plant which was inaugurated in the Lower Galilee this week. Israeli "Hemar" Co., which develops cellular phone solutions according to the Turn-Key method for the manufacturing of security and tracking systems in broadband telecom networks - is taking the Latin American market by storm: after installing 1,500 cellular sites in Brazil, the company is now setting up cellular sites in Mexico. So far the it has installed 300 out of 2,000 sites. The Mexican infrastructure market was estimated to be worth a billion dollars in 2002, and Hemar's revenues are expected to reach $50 million. Following a 2-year freeze in the trade with Egypt, this week the Israeli company "Trelidor" which manufactures protective systems and folding bars, received an order to export bars to the Egyptian company "Hadidko". Up until 1999, the company's annual turnover for exports to Egypt was NIS 4 million. The company now hopes that following the thaw in relations with Egypt prompted by the visit of the Egyptian Foreign Minister to Israel, it will substantially increase exports to Egypt. The IEC will purchase three power stations from the German company Siemens, with a capacity of 370 mega-watts. The deal, worth more than $300 million, also includes a commitment by Siemens to maintain the power stations in the long term. The new power stations, which will begin operating in 2004, belong to a new generation of energy-generating methods that the IEC will be operating for the first time. The Israeli company I.E.S. Electronic Industries, which provides maintenance services for electronic systems and manufactures shooting range systems, has received an order from the Thai army for the supply of shooting practice systems worth NIS 7 million. The company's revenues for the first nine months of the year were NIS 43 million, compared with NIS 39 million for the corresponding period last year. Israeli company Electra Realty intends to purchase a building complex from a Canadian company in Montreal, for NIS 126 million. The buildings contain 45,000 sq.m., one of them is currently leased to the Canadian government on a 10-year contract, and the others are leased to different tenants for varying periods. Annual gross income from rentals amount to NIS 22 million. Clal Insurance completed its acquisition of the British Lloyds syndicate Broadgate, controlled by Grophma, this week. According to the contract, Grophma will sell Clal all its holdings and rights in Broadgate, free of any lien or third-party rights. Clal Insurance issued the following statement: "The acquisition will enable us to insure Israeli assets overseas, and provide a comprehensive insurance umbrella for multi-national Israeli companies. The acquisition was completed for the sum of one pound sterling (£1). The British government will advise the Israeli government and help it promote projects financed by the private sector. The advice will be given through "UK Partnership", based on the PFI method. The projects are worth NIS 4 billion, and are expected to begin next month, particularly in the field of expanding transport infrastructure. In the PFI method, the private entrepreneur establishes, finances and operates a government project for an extended period (15-30 years) and in return charges the state. Back to the economy: The Manufacturers' Association has announced that in coming months 14,000 employees will be laid off in the industrial sector, if an emergency plan for the economy is not drawn up immediately. The Association announced that industrial output has fallen by 8% since the last quarter of the year 2000, whereas the number of employees has fallen by 4%. The statement said that plants have begun to take measures to improve efficiency in order to cope with the crisis in demand and steep competition in world markets.
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