Mention the city of Jerusalem to people who live outside Israel, and they may associate the place with religion or tourism and even, unfortunately, terror. All understandable. But if you were to then query what makes the economy go round for its 850,000 inhabitants, then this may raise more questions than answers.

I did mention the tourism business, significant but not enough. The city also bristles with government offices, whose output is high, when measured in terms of paper pushing. But there is more, and often surprisingly so. Let me take a few lines to enlighten you as to Jerusalem’s economic value.

Biotech:

There are over 130 companies in the life science sector in the Jerusalem area. They are serviced by industrial parks as well as the research facilities in key campuses such as Hadassah Hospital. As I have written in the past, it is ironic that it is the complex diverse social culture of the city that makes this place attractive for overseas investors to look for the technology breakthrough in pharma and related fields.

The markets:

Jerusalem has three key markets; the primarily Jewish fruit and veg shops around Machane Yehuda, the four religious quarters of the Old City, and the stalls of Arab East Jerusalem. Each one is unique and worth a visit, but I want to concentrate on the third one.

It is not just that contrary to political hype, you do find a plentiful amount of Israel products with Hebrew packaging on full display. These traders have goods to sell that have originated in exotic countries that theoretically ban trade with Israel. You can find underwear from Dubai and cosmetics from Afghanistan. The latest addition is Syrian merchandise that has woven its way south via Jordan and the Allenby Crossing with Israel. And nobody complain about this free trade.

Future Thinking:

Over the past five years, Jerusalem has become inundated with networking groups. Two of the largest are JLM and JBNF. The point is that a whole community or generation is no longer prepared to be confined by the restrictions of religious leaders or the workings of bureaucrats. For example, as an active member of JBNF, I can vouch for the fact that at any one sessions, you will find a non-Jewish member sitting right next to an ultra orthodox Jew, all constantly looking for a new way to develop commercial realtionships.

The city is utilizing its diversity of peoples, languages and tertiary teaching institutions in order to bring the sum of the talent together for a greater good. One prime example of this is Glide, where you can see religious and non-observant working freely together to create a video app. This company has already raised several tens of millions. Bob Rosenschien’s Curiyo is another such example.

If there is a conclusion from this myriad of the unexpected, it is that Jerusalem has a n economy that defies the headlines of the newspapers. Yes, the key neighbourhoods may suffer a downturn, as per now. However the Holy City possesses an economic nature that defies belief (sic)!