7/30/2019 Haifa Prospecting Communities
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Positioning: Haifa works, Jerusalem prays and Tel Aviv plays
Major gas finds in the Levant: Haifa, the next energy
hub?Strengths
A tolerant metropolis, 2nd inIsrael (population of 1 mln),
anexotic Mediterranean ambiance
Affordable real estate
Strong industrial clusters(Petrochemicals, IT, Electronics,
Aerospace & Defence, Health)
Academia & innovation: MATAM+ Technion = Israels MIT
Largest port in Israel: attractiveregional gateway (Jordan
espe-
cially) thanks to convenient rail/road connections (far less
con-gested than in Ashdod)
Assets: Bahai Gardens (Unesco),Haifa International Film
Festival
Weaknesses
Demographic stagnation (city Metropolitan areas
of Beersheba (South, 560,000)and Tel Aviv (Centre, 3,200,000)are
growing nearly twice as fast
Tough competition with CentralIsrael (Ashdod Port,
financialpower of Tel Aviv, politicalpower of Jerusalem)
Trade openness = national ex-posure to global crisis
Image deficit (declining, rusty,air contamination, etc.)
=> Insufficient promotion efforts
Opportunities
New gas finds & gas pipeline
Government-backed develop-ment plans for Haifa port
Business anchors: new Life Sci-ences park, Disney park
Growing MICE tourism + footballdiplomacy (new sport complexfor
famous Maccabi team)
Health tourism assets (Rambam)
Threats
Reinforced attractiveness of Tel
Aviv (TLV Global Initiative) Feud over port privatization
Industrial relocations (textile,mechanics, electronic
compo-nents) & competition for venturefunds (US investors hit
by crisis)
Regional political uncertainty,
constant threat to tourism boom
ANIMA - Invest in Med 2011
Jerusalem
ISRAEL: Haifa
Haifa Municipality/Haifa Economic Corporation
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Strategy: positive messages to overshadow a negative bias
Branding and image building are issues Israelis are highly
interested in,due to the sharp contrasts in the messages carried by
internationalmedia regarding their country (peace process,
intifadas, terrorism,innovation, OECD membership). In Haifa, the
only systematic campaign
launched until now was tourism-oriented (see Haifa Tourists
Board)rather than targeting the global business community to create
a per-ception of Haifa as a valuable business location. Messages
found inboth the HEC and the Municipalitys communication tools are,
however,consistent: they build momentum on the success of the
Technion (theIsraeli MIT"), MATAM ("a worldwide leader in
technology") and its pres-tigious tenants (Intel, Google, Philips,
Microsoft) to position Haifa as thehigh tech capital of Israel, "a
flourishing centre for entrepreneurial de-velopment". This message
has been so successful abroad that the mainchallenge is now to
narrow the gap with national representations (rustyHaifa, heavy
steel industries, port and petrochemical factories + 2006Hezbollah
bombings) or local ones (a sleepy workers city where
aircontamination is considered to deter residents and tourists
alike).
Communication: Haifa, the Metropolis of the North
ANIMA - Invest in Med 2011
Indirect communication pays off
Municipal plan: Part of the Business Development annual plan
Human resources: Municipality Spokesman Department
Municipal budget: None specific/HEC budget: confidential
Tools and actions: Specific business communication through
pro-fessional events and networks, rather than costly direct
communica-tion (ads, billboards) / Cooperation with State promotion
bodies(mostly Israel IPC) / Strong web presence =
Municipality-backed
English & Hebrew blog, HEC extensive English website,You
Tube Impact: Haifa reaps the benefit ofnational communica-
tion efforts (cf. media coverage caused by the best-seller
Start-upNation) => boasts headlines in most major Israeli
business media(cf. dozens of positive headlines annually in
economic press leaderGlobes, such as "IBM Haifa lab receives most
US patents in Israel",11/01/2011) + good international audience,
especially after famousBritish Monocle magazine dubbed Haifa as
Business hotspot for 2011
ISRAEL: Haifa
Haifa Municipality/Haifa Economic Corporation
