1. September 2008 Central Bureau of Statistics Israel International Trade in Services Survey - Israel

2. September 2008 Central Bureau of Statistics Israel ITRS and problems in the estimation of International Trade in Other Business Services Declining quality of ITRS data Increasing amount of transactions between foreign and Israeli residents, taking place abroad and unregistered in the domestic banking system Type and geographical breakdown of International Trade in Services

3. September 2008 Central Bureau of Statistics Israel International Trade in Services Survey (ITSS) Frequency The survey will be conducted annually, starting from calendar year 2004. Owing to the delay in the completion of the 2004 survey, 2005 has been omitted and estimations for this year will be extrapolated from the 2004-2006 surveys. Population All business units exporting and importing Other business services

4. September 2008 Central Bureau of Statistics Israel International Trade in Services Survey (ITSS) Sampling frame Exports The sampling frame is based on VAT files including all companies with exempted VAT revenues (mainly exports) Exempted VAT revenues not resulting from exports (sale of fruits and vegetables, sales to VAT exempted city of Eilat, etc.) are deducted. The remaining exempted VAT revenues are considered to be an estimate of total exports (goods and services)

5. September 2008 Central Bureau of Statistics Israel From the above exempted VAT revenues, goods exports are deducted by Company Number, according to customs files Remaining exempted revenues are considered to be a first estimate of services exports and are the basis for sample selection Sampling frame for exports excludes: Unincorporated Industries as follows: International Trade in Services Survey (ITSS)

6. September 2008 Central Bureau of Statistics Israel International Trade in Services Survey (ITSS) All agriculture: ISIC 01-09 Transportation: ISIC 60.61,62,63,64 Hotels and accommodation services : ISIC 55 Restaurants and dining services: ISIC 56 Diamonds related units: ISIC 37,5135 Communications: ISIC 66 Banking and other financial institutions: ISIC 67 Insurance institutions: ISIC 68 Services by domestic personnel: ISIC 97 Extra-territorial organizations– ISIC 99

7. September 2008 Central Bureau of Statistics Israel International Trade in Services Survey (ITSS) Exempted VAT revenues corresponding to Consolidated companies for VAT purposes, have been allocated among companies belonging to the groups, according to relative total revenues (This method was used only for the 2004 Survey and was changed for the 2006 Survey – See bellow) Imports Sampling frame based on ITRS identified data on imports of services Sampling frame for imports excludes: Unincorporated Industries as follows:

8. September 2008 Central Bureau of Statistics Israel All agriculture: ISIC 01-09 Transportation: ISIC 60,61,62,63,64 Diamonds related: ISIC 37,5135 Communications: ISIC 66 Extra-territorial organizations – ISIC 99 International Trade in Services Survey (ITSS)

9. September 2008 Central Bureau of Statistics Israel Company Number All registered companies are assigned a single Company Number by the Companies Registrar (Ministry of Justice) The Company Number is used also by other government agencies to identify companies in their files, as VAT authorities, Tax Income, Social Security, Customs, etc. As a result, a link between data in different institutions can be established in a relative simple way

10. September 2008 Central Bureau of Statistics Israel Sample Exports and Imports Stratified sample by Economic Activities of companies and size levels determined by expected volume of exports and imports of services. The Lavallee-Hidiroglou (1988) stratification algorithm is used to set the boundaries and to allocate the sample. The top size stratum in each Economic Activity is a take- all stratum and all the companies are included in the sample. In the other strata, simple random sampling without replacement is drawn according to the allocation. International Trade in Services Survey (ITSS)

11. September 2008 Central Bureau of Statistics Israel International Trade in Services Survey (ITSS) Questionnaire Includes the following (2004 survey) : Types of services according to EBOPS (21 categories) Industries of exporters/importers (ISIC) Trade by type of foreign partner: foreign affiliated companies or other foreign residents Geographical breakdown of exports and imports

12. September 2008 Central Bureau of Statistics Israel 2004 Survey – Major Shortcomings In many cases, allocation of exempted VAT revenues corresponding to Consolidated companies for VAT purposes - among companies in the group and based on total turnover of companies - resulted in relevant discrepancies between expected and final figures (increment of zero cases) ITRS threshold for identified transactions is US$ 50,000, which conduced to - approximately – an only 70% of identified volume of transactions related to imports of services to be included in the sampling frame

13. September 2008 Central Bureau of Statistics Israel 2004 Survey – Major Shortcomings (cont.) Consequently, 33% of total imports of services havent been classified by the survey Industries 50-51-52 (Wholesale and Retail Trade) havent been classified yet, as the sampling of these industries was problematic in the 2004 survey. Additional procedures for these industries are currently considered

14. September 2008 Central Bureau of Statistics Israel

15. September 2008 Central Bureau of Statistics Israel

16. September 2008 Central Bureau of Statistics Israel ITSS – Future improvements Alternative or additional sampling frame for imports of services – ITRS covers only transactions above US$ 50,000 The allocation of VAT exempted revenues among companies in Consolidated companies for VAT purposes, has been changed from the 2006 survey. The sample is now selected on the base of exempted revenues of the whole Consolidated companies for VAT purposes Additional sampling of companies in trade industries is planned before completion of the 2006 survey

17. September 2008 Central Bureau of Statistics Israel Thanks for your attention !