I was asked to share with you some of the insights I have acquired during the long process since I established INDIGO, and how it comes that an industrialist has been invited to the conference.

I was born in Poland after World War II. In my first years of life I lived in a refugee camp in Germany until my family immigrated to Canada. I was raised in a poor family but it was a warm home and a Zionist home. As a young man, I dreamed about two things: machines and Israel. When I immigrated to Israel, I established the INDIGO company. Thirty years later, I am proud that it is a division of Hewlett-Packard, which is leading in digital printing. My dream today is that Israel will be in the front of the digital printing era. I am often asked what the success of the Israeli Hi-Tech industry is. We do not possess natural resources but we have one precious resource which is typical to Israel – and it is the Israeli citizen. He is creative, motivated, and ambitious. He is diligent and committed. A combination of American and Japanese. The result is powerful! This is the magic on which INDIGO has been established on.   Today it occupies thousands in Israel and runs hundreds of thousands from export income. INDIGO produces the most astonishing machines and on each of them it is written that it is “produced in Israel.” For me it is a dream that has been fulfilled.   

What does an entrepreneur that was raised in a poor house and had plenty of luck after his dream has been fulfilled – do? He wants to share his luck with others and help others to fulfill their dreams. My wife and I established the Landa Foundation for equality and opportunities in education. This foundation focuses on talented, though poor, people. As investors in our youth, the dividends are measured in quality and not in dollars. We are talking about the future leaders.

We give the youth from the periphery — the Olim from Russia, Ethiopia, and the Israeli Arab youth – an access to higher education. Israel must give an equal opportunity to all its citizens. Only when this is fulfilled, all the citizens in Israel will be an integral and loyal part of our society.  What kind of a country will we have without this? A major part of the foundation is dedicated to a program connected with the IDF, the Atidim program. The rest is dedicated to the same target through centers in all the universities and the Weizman Institution. In my view, Atidim is the most Zionist program in Israel. Atidim became the most powerful vehicle in Israel, which recruits the potential to close socio-economic gaps. The Atidim program transforms the lives of 12 thousands of youngsters, who are the most promising for future contribution. Frequently, the most talented people lack the self-image that suits their intellectual ability. The majority of these young people do not regard itself as bearing a potential success.

During these days of severe pessimism in Israel, I remain optimistic – at least for the next generation. In the coming decade, Atidim will create forty-thousand graduates who will have a deep influence on the State of Israel. They have a strong need to show us that the confidence attributed to them was justified. They are determined to reward the Israeli society and to help others to fulfill their dreams. We will observe our investments with pride.

Another question to be asked is how will those graduates earn a living? I do not share the widely held opinion about the economy’s resilience. I believe that although there are signs for improvement in the recent three years, the economy’s foundations are very much worrying. The economic resilience of each society is the GDP. It grows only when the GDP goes beyond the growth of the population. In the last ten years the population in Israel grew, but the GDP has hardly grown. As the years pass, Israel’s position comparing to the OECD countries – declines.

I identify two components that are vital for encouraging growth. The first is the birth rate. In Israel the birth rate is the highest in the world. Today, 28 percent of the population is under the age of 14. This rate is 50 percent higher than in OECD countries. As a result, the working power is low and is a burden on the economy. Regarding the size of the population we have bypassed Ireland, Denmark, and Sweden, but in economic terms we are the poorest.

We rapidly march towards being a third world country. I know that everyone who advocate for birth control will be accused for being anti-Jewish and racist. In spite of this I call the leaders to take the leadership and take unpopular steps.

The second barrier for economic growth of a country is the job shortage. We have foreign purchases and foreign investments, but it seems that the globalization era skipped Israel. The situation is that trans-national corporations establish projects in every place in the world, but not in Israel. Globalization has skipped Israel. There are no investments here in human resources because they are not attractive and not competative with other countries incentives. Lacking such investments, with the combination of population growth exceeding the GDP growth, Israel is doomed to become a poor state, which it cannot afford itself. I call upon the leadership to handle these existential issues, in this stage.