Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates met with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on
a recent visit to Israel. The two announced the launch of a national
plan to provide computer skills for 250,000 poor Israeli youths in a
bid to "lessen the digital gap."
"I see great importance in the fact that Microsoft, a leader in its
field, invests in Israel," Sharon told Gates. "Israel is a powerful
country with regards to technology and computers, something which is
pinned in the Jewish history of this small nation," Sharon said.
Gates signed a cooperation agreement between Microsoft and the Chief
Scientist at the Ministry of Science and Technology. Under the
agreement, funds provided by the giant software provider will be
allocated to start-up companies, who will receive assistance in
developing new ideas, manufacturing new products and eventually
launching them on the international markets.