Israel has selected Chinese and Portuguese companies, each with multi billions in revenue, to begin building multifamily developments to reduce skyrocketing housing prices. Nearly 50 European and Asian companies submitted bids last spring to government ministries for the contract that will begin in the coming months and last five years. The winning firms will be allowed to import up to 1,000 workers each. The Israel Builders Association has strongly criticized the program.
选定的公司是Everbright International Construction Enginesering Corp.，北京建筑工程集团，江苏第一建筑公司，江苏·纳坦·纳坦（Jiangsu Nantong Nantong），第2号建筑工程集团，中国Haushi Enterprises Co.和葡萄牙的Mota Engil Engilharia E Construction。
Among the firms that are ranked on ENR's Top 250 International Contractors list, Mota Engil ranks at No. 59, reporting $2.88 billion in total global contracting revenue last year, about $2.1 billion in its domestic market. It also operates in the Czech Republic, Poland and Peru. Beijing Construction ranks at No. 115 on that list, reporting about $7 billion in total worldwide revenue in 2015, all but about $624 million in China. Jiangsu Nantong also reports about $7.3 billion in global reveue, all but $416 million domestic.
根据招标,每个公司将be required to have at least 100,000 sq meters of housing projects under construction by the second year of local operations, which will rise to 250,000 sq m by the fourth year. There is an option to extend contracts for three years. The firms will not be allowed to work on other types of construction projects. The dollar value of the contracts was not disclosed. To meet those targets, each contractor is expected to bring in up to 1,000 workers into Israel. According to program sources, they will be housed on site in prefab structures or in crowded apartments in Israeli cities.
Israel had intended to gain needed skills by allowing 20,000 Chinese construction workers into the country, but no deal could be reached with China's government, according to Israeli publication Haaretz.
以色列住房部长埃舍尔·阿默尼（Eshel Armoni）表示：“这些公司已验证的业绩记录和技术能力，可以利用以色列目前尚未就业的工业化技术迅速建设。”他补充说，主要目的是大大减少建造数千套新公寓的时间表。Haaretz说，许多结构将使用预制方法建造。
据该部称，外国建筑公司可以为以色列水管工，电工，石膏和其他熟练行业工人创造更多的工作。但是，一个领先的经济学家怀疑情况。特拉维夫BDO Consulting的首席经济学家Chen Herzog说：“以色列承包商为以色列承包商而言，唯一的工作方式是，如果政府释放了更多的土地，以便住房的数量可以急剧上升。”
以色列的财政部宣布了计划，计划今年批准创纪录的145,000个新住房单元，并建造55,000个新公寓。但是赫尔佐格（Herzog）警告说，政府一直未能达到其目标，他仍然持怀疑态度。自2008年以来，住房价格已翻了一番以上，使许多以色列人的公寓无法触及。到目前为止，财政部长Moshe Kahlon未能努力降低住房价格。去年他们上升了8％，预计今年将增长几乎相当多。
以色列建筑商协会将政府承担批准外国公司进入的任务。协会主席罗尼·布里克（Roni Brik）表示：“此举将危害全国各地数千套公寓的中小型承包商。”他说，解决瓶颈的唯一方法是立即引进数千名外国建筑工人。这个数字将是该国已经有成千上万的人，主要来自中国，泰国和乌克兰。
