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Galilee profile
The Galilee is located in the northern part of Israel. It is a small region — a mere 100 kilometers separate its northern border from its southernmost boundary. Its eastern reaches lie only 70 kilometers from the Mediterranean Sea in the west. But these 7,000 square kilometers encompass amazingly beautiful and contrasting scenery: mountains and valleys, fertile plateaus and stark cliffs.
The Galilee is a fascinating blend of low-tech and high-tech industry. While agriculture still plays an important part of the Galilee’s economy, there are a large number of high-tech companies operating in the scenic region. As a whole, economic activity is based mainly on: industry, agriculture and tourism.
Plastics are the dominant industrial activity in the region. Other industry sectors include automated machinery, chemicals, industrial equipment, communications, information technology, electronics, optics, semiconductors, life sciences, medical and scientific equipment, biotech, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, agriculture, and tourism. A number of multinational companies are located in the region including Motorola, Netafim, Dan, Shamir, and others.
The Galilee has skilled manpower, ample resources, and in-depth know-how and technological capabilities at its disposal. There are currently about 167 companies and factories in the Galilee and an estimated 120 new businesses are set up each year. A number of Israel’s leading high-tech success stories got their start in the Galilee.
The region offers several academic colleges including Tel-Hai College, Ort Braude College, and Safed College as well as several research institutes and technological incubators including MIGAL, Post-Harvest Laboratory, Meytav Biotechnological Incubator, and others. The MIGAL Research Institute brings together some of Israel’s foremost researchers in life sciences.
As a “Class A Development Region” the government offers priority developmental packages to companies in the fields of electronics, optics, biotechnology, environmental quality, software, and computers. Today, many enterprises act as sub-contractors to companies in the centre of Israel. However, innovative developments are taking place in many local kibbutzim including the development of new products and industrial lines.
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