Just about every country in the world has a problem ensuring that economic prosperity reaches peripheral areas, away from core population centres. In Israel, Intel has developed a very enlightening approach that is clearly making a difference.

Intel’s overall contribution to the Israeli economy is well-documented. For example: –

• Intel exports from Israel totaled around US$3.35 billion in 2016.
• Intel has purchased around US$10 billion in the past decade from local suppliers, with 80-90%  bought from small and medium sized enterprises.
• It has contributed millions to local causes.
• Intel has just paid out US$15.3 billion to take control of Mobileye, located literally just down the road from its own Jerusalem fab.
• And as the Jerusalem plant is nearing a refurbishment, the value of investment in its own plants in Israel over the years is estimated at around US$11 billion.

What is also interesting to learn is how the chip conglomerate also looks after those areas of society not located in the centre of the country.

The company has four plants in Israel. Excluding the site in Petach Tikvah, three are located in what are considered development zones: Jerusalem, Haifa and Kiryat Gat. Thus, 80% of the work force comes from outside the statistically better-off population areas.

In another field of activity, about 40% of Intel employees volunteer in community activities. Significantly, they are involved in about 70 schools in the north of the country, out of sight and sound of the media.

These activities on their own are not enough to resolve the economic woes of the north and south of the Israel, which have historically always felt geographically and commercially isolated. However, they indicate a way forward for the Jerusalem based bureaucrats and politicians to learn from. It is probably a lesson for other countries as well, when it comes to formulating regional economic policies.