SodaStream to invest in Negev

Carbonated drink firm to build plant in South after receiving grant from government; initiative likely to reduce unemployment among Bedouins

By ToI Staff 4 April 2012, 6:54 pm

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SodaStream products. (photo credit: sodastream.co.il)

Things are fizzing up in the South: The Industry, Trade and Labor Ministry on Wednesday approved a grant to the SodaStream carbonated beverage firm for the purpose of building a plant in the Negev at a cost of about NIS 130 million, the News1 website reported.

According to the report, the plant will provide employment opportunities to around 1,000 workers, many of them Bedouins.

News1 reported that local leaders praised the initiative for the desperately-needed jobs it would create and its predicted contribution to the region’s development.

“It is a good solution which could considerably reduce unemployment in the city of Rahat, particularly among Bedouin women,” the website quoted Rahat Mayor Faiz Abu Sahiban as saying.

The plant will reportedly be built in the “Idan Hanegev” industrial park located between Lehavim and the Bedouin city of Rahat, where a hospital and technical institute are currently in the planning stage. It will join SodaStream’s two existing plants in Israel, one in Mishor Adumim and the other in Ashkelon.