The United States has pulled out of the Iran deal in May and has since reimposed a number of sanctions that will degrade the Iranian economy. President Trump also imposed tariffs on the EU, Chinese and most recently Turkish imports contributing to the fall of Turkey’s lira. Turkey’s economic fall has ignited fears that the country’s currency woes could ripple through European banks. There has been an increasing international trend towards economic protectionism instead of free trade.
On the world stage, with international trade disputes escalating, the dollar is strengthening, particularly against currencies in emerging economies. The Israeli shekel is relatively stable and its steady economic growth caused Standard & Poor’s credit scoring agency to raise Israel’s credit score to its highest score ever.
Mr. Dan Catarivas and Mr. Shauli Katznelson will analyse the global economic trends and Israel’s economic outlook.
Mr. Dan Catarivas– is the Director of the Division of Foreign Trade and International Relations at the Manufacturers’ Association of Israel and Director of International Relations at the Federation of Israeli Economic Organizations (FIEO). Beforehand he served for twenty five years with the Israel Government. His last position was Deputy Director General for International Affairs at the Ministry of Finance. Prior to his position in the Ministry of Finance, Mr Catarivas established the Middle East Department within the Foreign Trade Administration at the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labour. He served as a Chairman of the Trade Committee of the Multilateral Economic Negotiations (REDWG) that was part of the peace negotiations. Mr Catarivas served abroad as a first Economic Counselor of Israel in Beijing, China, and between 1982-1984 served as a representative of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labour in the Israeli Liaison Office in Beirut, Lebanon.
Mr. Shauli Katznelson- is the Deputy Director General at the Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute. He is in charge of the Economic Analysis and Professional Services Division. Among his responsibilities is evaluating and targeting preferred global markets for the Israeli Export, supplying business information, providing professional consulting and allocating business partners for Israeli companies in the global markets. Mr. Katznelson joined the IEICI in 2003. He was previously the VP of finance and Economics in Hamashbir Lezarchan Group. Before that, he worked in Israel Discount Bank, the third largest bank in Israel as Chief Economist and head of the economics, Planning & Control Department, and was promoted later to become the Director of the marketing Division.
