Teva CFS Book English

12 The plant in Kfar Saba - the late Eli Hurvitz ’s lifetime achievement The Teva plant in Kfar Saba was first and foremost the result of the late Eli Hurvitz’s vision. From the decision to acquire it in 1980 from Ikapharm, to building the Copaxone plant, and to the successful series of launches, the plant has achieved Eli’s vision and path to groundbreaking Israeli industry. Economics and Zionism - Hand in Hand Chaim Hurvitz, Eli’s son, recounts: “Economics and Zionism went hand in hand for my father. For him, Zionism - research, development, and manufacturing, here in Israel - was the main motive. Out of the belief that a healthy economy is the path to positive growth, he always checked the impact of Teva’s business moves on the country and strived to connect the two”. Now, that the company's sales in the world constitute 10% of Israel’s industrial export, it seems obvious, but as Chaim Hurvitz says, “the achievements didn’t happen in a day”. In the seventies and early eighties, Israel was in a trade deficit. As a union-based state, export was minimal. The late Eli Hurvitz claimed: “We are just as good as other countries and there’s no reason why we can’t compete”. He said, and he paved a special path to develop Teva as an exporter. The process took 20-25 years, but in retrospect, it’s obvious how correct the steps were and predicted the future. There’s no doubt that the late Eli Hurvitz’s contribution to Israeli export, to the Israeli economy, and to the State of Israel is immense. Breakthrough into the American Market The late Eli Hurvitz and Teva’s pioneering spirit also manifested in Teva’s penetration of the American market. When Teva first entered the American Stock Exchange in 1987, it did it at the end of a systematic process, which included His Life’s