Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 36, No. 20, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 20, 1982 Page: 5 of 24
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Arab Investors
jess iawin
Continued from Page 1
“The Israel Ministers of Industry and Energy have agreed to Mr.
Rowland’s proposals. The intention is for LONRHO to establish joint
companies with Israel government and private companies in Israel and in
advanced technology projects in England.
“Because of the broad interest aroused in London’s City by the Haaretz
article of April 22, Mr. Rowland agreed to an interview concerning
LONRHO’s plans for investment in Israel.
“LONRHO originated in Africa; its present name is a contraction of
“London and Rhodesia Mining and Land Company”. The company grew
and expanded to operations in 82 countries on five continents. Rowland
is the principal shareholder of this international conglomerate which em-
ploys 150,000, encompasses 865 subsidiaries, and has an annual turnover
of $5 billion.
“LONRHO is in a wide diversity of businesses from platinum mines in
South Africa, gold and copper in Zimbabwe, automotive sales agencies in
Nigeria, Kenya and Malawe, newspapers in South Africa, Scotland and
Kenya, breweries and distilleries, hotels in Mexico, to shares in London’s
exclusive Harrod’s department store, to ownership ot the Observer, one
of the World’s leading newspapers. .
“LONRHO has extensive economic interests in the Arab World. It is
engaged in a large scale agricultural project in the Sudan, in partnership
with the governments of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt and Sudan, and
private Libyan businessmen. The company has business interests in the
United Arab Emirates and is a partner in the Egyptian Ismaila Transport
Company.
“But beyond these, the ruling family of Kuwait owns 15 percent of the
shares on LONRHO. However, this is not a governmental investment, but
rather private through the Sheikh Sabah al Sabah, the Minister of Foreign
Affairs and brother of the.ruler of Kuwait, and the Minister’s two sons,
Sheikh Nasser and Sheikh Hamdad. Since these investments total some
40 million Pounds Sterling, it is difficult to imagine that LONRHO’s in-
volvement in Israel could occur without a reaction from the Arab Boycott
Office.
“Accordingly, this was the first question I posed to Mr. Rowland in a
telephone interview. Mr. Rowland’s reaction was: ‘I am not afraid of the
Arab Boycott. Why should I be? The Boycott Office in Damascus is one
big stupidity. They never deterred and will never deter a multi-national
corporation from maintaining business contacts with Israel. It may be
that small companies will be influenced by the Boycott Office; small
companies give in to all kinds of pressures. The Boycott Office never
succeeded in deterring a major multi-national corporation. I very well
remember the attempt to influence Coca Cola. What happened? Nothing.
Coca Cola has a company in Israel.’
“Question: Aren’t you afraid that your partners, the Kuwait ruling
family, will withdraw their investments from LONRHO?
“Answer: No, I’m not afraid and in essence it doesn’t bother me. My
Kuwait partners are involved in the company as private investors and not
as the Government of Kuwait. I know the Sheikhs, Nasser and Hamad
very well. They are only interested in money, profits. After all they do un-
derstand business.
“Question: Nevertheless, what would happen if the Boycott Office
would put pressure on them?
“Answer: My experience with them is not bad. They’ve already tried
several times to persuade me to comply with the boycott. Their London
representative warned us. However, it always ended up with several good
luncheons and nothing else. They only threaten and their threats last for
a week, no longer.
“Question: Why did you decide to invest in Israel only now?
“Answer: To tell the truth, I always had connections with Israel. I
visited many times, I knew Moshe Dayan. But now, when the Peace
Treaty with Egypt is being fully implemented with the evacuation of Sinai,
I concluded that the time is appropriate. I remember that President Sadat
told me that the implementation of the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty will end
the enmity of the Arab World to Israel and that he, Sadat, would en-
courage Arab and African countries to enter into relations with Israel. I
can reveal to you that we intend to invite Israel investors to invest in our
Egyptian company, Ismaila Transport Company.
Question: In what do you intend to invest in Israel?
Answer: The program is still under preliminary investigation. My inten-
tion is to invest in any program or project which will be worthwhile and
profitable.
“Mr. Rowland refused to provide any further details about his plans.
However, I found out more from reliable sources. It seems that LONRHO
is interested in joint ventures with Israel private and government com-
panies in the fields of aviation, defense industries and energy. It would
also like to enter into joint projects abroad in the fields of electronics and
advanced technology.”
So, when it comes to using Jewish ingenuity, brains and expertise, the
Arabs are quite willing.
Egypt has learned the lesson well despite several superficial charades
which included the tragic assassination of the late President Anwar El-
Sadat.
It would be most expedient for the rest of the moderate camp of
Israel’s Arab neighbors to put their true feelings on the table and invest
in a real venture toward peace.
It would be healthier than the dangerous game of hate propaganda
they play for domestic political rationalizations rather than to face reality
and be reasonable in a cooperative effort to bring lasting peace to the
area.
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TEXAS JEWISH POST
429-0840
PAGE 5 DALLAS THURSDAY, MAY 20, 1982 TEXAS JEWISH POST
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Wisch, J. A. & Wisch, Rene. Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 36, No. 20, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 20, 1982, newspaper, May 20, 1982; Fort Worth, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth755686/m1/5/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .