The Prime Minister's Office Authority for the Economic Development of the Arab Druze and Circassian Sectors, the Finance Ministry and the Industry, Trade and Labor Ministry today, issued a tender for the establishment of a NIS 160 million joint investment fund with the private sector for investments in minorities sector businesses.  The fund will both assist in upgrading existing businesses and help establish new ones.  The overall goal of the fund, which will be established for a ten-year period, is to increase economic activity in the minorities sector and exhaust its great potential.  The Government is committed to investing NIS 80 million in the fund.  The body chosen by the tender will commit to raising an additional sum of at least NIS 80 million from the private sector.

As per the terms of the tender, the fund will be obligated to carry out its investments within five years of its establishment.  Afterwards, the fund will upgrade and accompany the businesses in which it has invested.  In order to ensure that investment decisions will be made according to professional considerations only, the Government will be a limited partner in the fund; investment decisions will not be made by state representatives but by the fund managers only.  In order to encourage those participating in the tender to raise as much capital as possible, it was decided that upon the disbandment of the fund, the Government will return to the other partners in the fund 50% of the surplus yield beyond the 5% that the Government receive on investment in the fund.

Prime Minister's Office Director-General Eyal Gabai said that, "It is becoming clear that cooperation between the Government and the private sector is a continuing success that may certainly be applied to the minorities sector.  Both the Government and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ascribe supreme economic importance to exhausting the growth potential of this sector and to this end, we intend to take a variety of measures."

Accountant General Shuki Oren and Prime Minister's Office Authority for the Economic Development of the Arab Druze and Circassian Sectors Director Iman Saif praised the establishment of the fund