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hightech firms and benefit from the current boom. Israels leaders are proud of the countrys hightech label and promote it. The result is that the country is particularly interested in cooperation with foreign investors in the hightech fields, more than with investors in other areas. A unique Israeli phenomenon is the office of the Chief Scientist at the Ministry of Industry and Trade, which distributes grants totaling nearly $400 million to various Ramp。D projects. The projects that succeed are expected to pay royalties to the Chief Scientists office for a number of years. Domestic Technological Advancement Israel has firmly established itself as the most puterized country in the Middle East。 it even surpasses some Western European nations. In 1997, more than 250,000 personal puters were sold in Israel, pared to 102,000 sold in Egypt (with a population of some 60 million) and just under 300,000 in Turkey (with a population of some 65 million). Israel also leads the Middle East with the highest peration rate of PCs in private homes. There is a personal puter in nearly one out of two households, a ratio similar to that of the United States, Canada and a very few European and Far Eastern countries. In recent years, the education system has purchased tens of thousands of puters for use by students, from kindergarten through university age. Compared to other socalled hightech 39。tigers39。, such as Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan, Israel is unique in that it is a true hightech country, with a highly developed domestic market for puting and telemunications. Israel is also a quick adopter of advanced technologies. Local expenditure on information technology is estimated at $ billion in 1997, with a steady growth of 1215% annually. Worldwide, expenditure on information technology reaches about $700 billion, with a 5year pound annual growth rate of about 10%. Telemunications Infrastructure In 1984 a governmentowned pany Bezeq took over the telephone and telemunications services, which had previously been supplied by a department of the Ministry of Communications. Since then, the telemunications infrastructure in Israel has developed at a rapid pace, and is today considered to be one of the most highly advanced systems in the region, providing full digital service throughout the country, advanced data munications, integrated services digital works (ISDN), asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), and fiberoptic and satellite services. It is clear that the development of telemunications services has contributed significantly to the development of Israels hightech industry. HighTech Exports Israels first hightech exports were produced by defense industries such as the Israel Aircraft Industries and Rafael, as well as by defense industry subcontractors. These firms produced electronic defense products with advanced technologies, meant for use by the IDF. Demand for proven in battle products from Israel led to a developing export industry of defenserelated products. today this is still a relatively large percentage of hightech exports. Studies have shown that Ramp。Dintensive, hightech panies have been a major factor in the growth of exports over the years, especially in electronics, optics, electrooptics, lasers, puterbased equipment, robotics and aeronautics. Moreover, in the last two decades Israeli developments have contributed significantly to the following information technology and telemunications industries: Wireless Communications (voice and data)Advanced Data Communications Technologies (ATM, IDSL, SDH)Advanced LAN Technologies (ATM, Fast Ether, FDDI, ISDN)Satellite VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal)Voice Mail and Related Voice Manipulation Technologies DSP Digital Signal Processing Technologies and Products Encryption and Data Security AntiVirus Technologies Software Utilities for Mainframe and MidRange Computers (including year 2020 problem solving utilities) Databases for Mainf