Developed at 61: A well-earned status upgrade
Ester Levanon
CEO
The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange
In June 2006, Mrs. Ester Levanon was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of the Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE).
Mrs. Levanon joined the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange in 1986; she held the position of Executive Vice President - CIO & Head of Operations.
From 1973 to 1985 Mrs. Levanon established and managed the Computer Division of the Israeli Security Service.
Mrs. Levanon holds a M.Sc. in Mathematics from the Hebrew University, Jerusalem. In 1998, she attended the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School, U.S.A.
Transcript
I think that the fact that MSCI just upgraded Israel from emerging market to developed market is a proof of the great achievement of the Israeli economy and is going to have a big impact on our economy.
That will enable us to have institution investors, big institution investors from all over the world that were never allowed to invest in Israel because it was considered as an emerging market.
That will allow them to come and invest in Israel, we will see big international investors interested in the success of the Israeli economy and focusing probably on specific companies that are very good or leading in their own area of expertise.
What contributed to the fact that Israel was upgraded to developed market is a combination of few things. First of all, the great success of the Israeli economy, then the high level of regulation that we have in Israel and last but not least, the way that the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange operates in a very modern and very transparent way.
All of this made the Israeli economy what it is today. And if I may I add my personal feelings about it, I think that what we achieved here in 61 years, starting from nothing and becoming a developed market is something that we all should be very proud of.