Learning to fish

"When talking about fish, one would hardly think about Israel. The country is known for oil, and more recently, on its war against Lebanon. However, it turned out that fish is a very important part of Israeli economy and agriculture. In the last half decade, Israel has become one of the top fish exporters to the European Union, a development that boosted its economy. Israel is now counted among countries like China, Japan, and Singapore with the distinction of producing the best quality fish. Among these fish exporters, it is notable that Israel is the only Middle Eastern nation, a clear delineation from the oil industry.

However, the fish exports from Israel cost more than the Far Eastern variety. According to market data, Israeli fish exporters price their bounty by at least 10% higher than Far Eastern fish. The Israel fish industry sees no problem in this price disparity. Apparently, the EU does not consider higher prices as problems. Simon claims that their clients in the EU are willing to pay the price in exchange for getting quality fish. Studies have shown that Israeli bounty lives longer than Far Eastern catch, making them fresher. "

Losing ground

"Brazilian exports to Syria have been presenting significant growth. Last year the equivalent to US$ 200.88 million were exported to the region, against US$ 166 million in 2005. From January to June this year, sales to the Arab country generated US$ 86.3 million, an increase of 126% over the same period last year. The main products shipped to Syria were sugar, coffee, vehicles, chicken, chassis and chemical paste for wood.

Last year, Brazilian imports of Syrian products totalled US$ 81.8 million. From January to July this year, Brazil purchased US$ 4.5 million from the Arab country, against US$ 40.2 million in the same period of 2006. Cumin seeds, aniseed, plastic fibres, pipes and handicraft are the main products imported."

One ostrich, many poor

"Not far from piles of rubble still being cleared after last year's war with Israel, Mohamad Yassine recently took an important step in his own effort to rebuild. Middle East Ostrich, his first retail shop, got ready for its grand opening.

Passersby peered curiously through the window at his display of delicacies -- ostrich sausage, ostrich mortadella, and a basket of big ostrich eggs. Heat-and-eat ostrich cordon bleu and ostrich Kiev were stacked in a freezer nearby. Souvenir plumes adorned a vase near the doorway.

Before the war, Mr. Yassine planned a much larger business expansion"

This project was going to expand in my village, Sinai, where the inhabitants are landless peasants, and land is owned in large parcels of several km2 by absentee landlords. The project would have prohibited the local people from using the land they have been planting for centuries, and left them without assets or resources. All this for export oriented production, (the Lebanese dont eat ostrich and Louis Vuitton's factories are not in Lebanon) which would have made one man richer (possibly because the economics of ostrich farming are dodgy, as many kiwis will tell you), but it would have made 100s of people poorer.