http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/364642.html
A designing woman, in the best sense
The Iron Lady showed what government support can do for industry- an idea Israel needs, says an expert visitor
By Efrat Shalom
Michael Peters, managing director of The Identica Partnership, British consultants, recalls the day he met Margaret Thatcher. In a moment she transformed from a threatening woman to a wise politician who recognized the importance of design in making products competitive in the international market.
"We couldn't believe the opportunity we - representatives of the design industry - were given by this wonderful lady," says Peters. She understood, he says, it would not happen without some government effort.
Peters related the story last week in the Jaffa home of Zvi Yemini, the CEO and chairman of the board of Z.A.G. Industries and the chairman of the Society of Israel Plastics and Rubber Industry, who is trying to promote design in Israeli industry.
People from the Israeli design industry attended the gathering, including Prof. Ezri Tarazi, the head of the industrial design department at the Bezalel Academy of Art, Sari Paran the owner and curator of the Periscope design gallery; and Prof. Amotz Weinberg, the president of Shenkar College of Engineering and Design.
Among the businessmen at the meeting were Sammy Sagol, the chairman of Keter Plastics; Yoram Belizovski, the director-general of the Israel Manufacturers Association; Ra'anan Dinur, the director-general of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Employment; and Yohanan Levy, the ministry's deputy director-general.
Peters went on to relate how Thatcher's positive approach - in the wake of which the British Design Council, which works to promote design in Britain, was eventually established - sparked a real revolution in British industry. Peters said Thatcher asked us to present a demonstration to cabinet members that would prove that design is important. We recommended that they invest £ 50 million in setting up a design fund of the Ministry of Trade and Industry that would encourage manufacturers and businessmen who did not have the opportunity to invest in design. Two weeks later we found out that the recommendation had been accepted, Peters recalled.
Peters had a clear message: Israel designers must unite in order to promote the issue to the government. If the government recognizes the importance of supporting design, in order to serve as a mediator between designers and industry, in another five years you will have one of the strongest design industries in the world. After all, Israel is strong in innovation, creativity, and industry and the only thing that is needed is government leadership to guide the process. The minute an Israeli prime minister is convinced that design is important, it will change the country's capital.
Peters also noted the need to increase business people's awareness of the fact that Israeli designers are as good as designers around the world. The minute a British designer, such as myself, comes here (Identica operates in Israel as well and built, among others, the Bank Leumi and Walla brands), it comes at the expense of the work of Israeli designers, he said.
At the end of the meeting, Dinur noted that the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Employment plans in 2004 to increase the budget allocated for design from NIS 1.5 million to NIS 5 million. "It's not the £ 50 million the government of England allocated, but you have to remember that even a large step starts with a single step," Dinur said.