Eyal Haimovsky, CEO of the Jerusalem Development Authority, spoke with Tamar Uriel-Be’eri, Managing Editor of Jpost.com, in a one-on-one interview at the Jerusalem Post Global Investment Forum in Marrakech, Morocco, on Thursday.
The Jerusalem Development Authority was founded in 1988 by Teddy Kollek, the legendary mayor of Jerusalem, from 1965 until 1983, together with the government of Israel. “The JDA serves as the executor of government, encouraging economic development in the city,” said Haimovsky.
He explained that the Jerusalem Development Authority has assisted in three main areas in the last decade. The organization has succeeded in doubling the number of high-tech employees in Jerusalem from 10,000 to 20,000 and has helped increase the number of companies in the city from 200 to 650, with the city becoming one of the ten leading cities in the field of life sciences.
“The JDA serves as the executor of government, encouraging economic development in the city,”
Eyal Haimovsky, CEO of the Jerusalem Development Authority
Second, Haimovsky stated that the JDA has encouraged the development of tourism in the city and has increased the number of hotel rooms from 11,000 to almost 15,000. As a result, Jerusalem has become a destination for high-tech conferences. In addition, the organization has created and built over 10,000 acres of parks in the city.
JDA's goals for the next five years
Listing the JDA’s goals for the next five years, Haimovsky said that the JDA would like to add 5,000 new employees in high-tech and restore the number of tourists that visit Jerusalem to the numbers that existed before the pandemic. “We want to add 3,000 more housing units and establish another 5,000 acres of gardens and parks for the benefit of both residents and visitors,” he said.