Israeli industrialist Stef Wertheimer will build Israel's first joint Jewish-Arab industrial park in Nazareth at a total investment of $20 million.

The park modelled according to the Tefen industrial park will be targeted for Arab and Israeli manufacturing and export companies and a place where Arabs and Jews will be trained for jobs in special schools.

Construction of the site in Nazareth is expected to begin within the next month or two. The industrial park, which is targeting to accommodate up to 30 entrepreneurs from the Galilee and Nazareth, is expected to be build within the next 1.5 to 2 years.

The start of the construction of the industrial park in Nazareth is expected to be inaugurated by President Shimon Peres over the next couple of weeks. The park will be built on 14 dunam and have 18,394 square meters of built-up space.

The project is developed in cooperation with Nazareth mayor Ramaz Jarisi and with full backing of government ministries.

The Nazareth industrial park is Wertheim's sixth industrial park after Tefen, Lavon and Kiryat Shmona in the Galilee, and Omer in the Negev. Wertheimer began developing a joint Israeli-Palestinian industrial park at Kerem Shalom more than ten years ago, but the project was halted by the outbreak of the intifada.

Wertheimer's model park is the Tefen industrial park. Built in 1982, it encompasses everything fro transportation to cultural and educational facilities. It's a model that creates synergies with education through entrepreneurial and creativity courses for industry and management. Tefen also has a national school that includes industry in its courses, while Art Tefen also has sculpture gardens and museums to display the beauty of industry.