This past February, KKL-JNF World Chairman Daniel Atar and Beer Sheva Mayor Ruvik Danilovich held a working meeting at the Beer Sheva High Tech Park, where they discussed strategic areas and possibilities for cooperation over the next 20 years, in the framework of the Israel 2040 plan.At the meeting, KKL-JNF representatives presented the “Israel 2040 – KKL-JNF Builds the Land of Tomorrow” plan. Initiated by KKL-JNF, Israel 2040 is a strategic national plan to transform the Galilee and the Negev into Israel’s leading regions of growth, with Beer Sheva in the south and Haifa in the north to become thriving metropolises of technology and commerce.
The KKL-JNF presenters elaborated on the methods and the means to implement the Israel 2040 plan, for example by diversifying opportunities for employment, supporting and promoting hi-tech and technological education, promoting training for hi-tech related fields, granting scholarships and more. They noted that one of the plan’s goals is to bring one million new inhabitants to the Negev by 2040.In turn, representatives of the Beer Sheva Municipality presented their own strategic plan for the next 20 years. The KKL-JNF and Beer Sheva municipality officials discovered that their visions were very much in sync - for example, both plans have the ideas of increasing the population, developing the existing hi-tech park, expanding and improving training and education for jobs in the high-tech field, and more. The meeting concluded with an agreement between Atar and Danilovich to work in partnership and to proceed immediately with implementing the plan for the Negev’s capital.Afterwards, the KKL-JNF World Chairman and the Mayor of Beer Sheva each gave a statement about their working meeting.KKL-JNF World Chairman Daniel Atar: “This morning, I met with Beer Sheva Mayor Ruvik Danilovich at the Beersheva Hi-Tech Park, in order to discuss strategic plans for the next twenty years, together with senior officials from KKL-JNF and from the Beer Sheva City Council. We began the meeting by presenting our Israel 2040 vision, which will bring one million new inhabitants to the Negev, and we learned about the municipality’s strategic plan and the similarities between it and KKL-JNF’s vision. As Ruvik noted, this is a national plan that will cause a dramatic population growth in the Negev. I was glad about the sense of partnership and Ruvik’s immediate commitment, which was an example of inspiring, top-quality local leadership. We agreed to cooperate and to implement the program immediately.”Beer Sheva Mayor Ruvik Danilovich: “Israel’s dramatic challenge today is to bring more residents to the Negev and Galilee by 2040. For this, we need to provide the services that they will need on the highest possible level. This is not just a plan of the Beer Sheva municipality; this is a national project. It is my firm belief that in Israel today, it is no longer about ‘me’ but rather about ‘us’. This is why I am partner to KKL-JNF’s plan and am grateful to you for the cooperation between us. Only if we carry out this plan together will we be able to build a great metropolitan center here, for the benefit of all of Israel’s inhabitants.”
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