Managing Director of KAR For Macaroni, Osama Al HERBAWI; “KAR production capacity for pasta is excessive enough for us for 5 years to come, we are looking to add additional production lines to cover other items as well as our products that we don’t produce at the moment. We also hope to possess new possibilities for manufacturing and cover all the Palestinian, Arabian and international markets.” One of the leading representatives of Palestinian pasta sector, KAR For Macaroni dominates 40 percent of the market and it continuous to increase its share. The target of the company which has a significant production capacity with its existing production lines is to expand its production line with its new products. Managing Director of KAR For Macaroni, Osama Al HERBAWI states that they hope to cover new markets in Arabian and international markets as well as new production lines, however they cannot achieve these targets due to high transfer fees and fierce competition. We discuss the details about KAR For Macaroni with AL HERBAWI Mr. Herbawi, first of all, can you introduce your company KAR FOR MACARONI? What can you say about your company and how you have come to today? KAR is registered in all institutions, including the Chamber of Commerce and the municipality and the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Health. This company is known for its all kinds of pasta in all shapes and types; it is subject to all laws and regulations in the company's industry under the administrative and technical staff of skilled engineers and specialists. KAR makes production under fully auto-production line from raw materials to end product which is ready to market. What can you say about your product variety and the position of your company in Palestinian market? Which properties of your company distinguish you from your rivals? Being one of the biggest companies in Palestine, KAR is one of the main suppliers in the local market with nearly 40 percent share in Palestine market. The company is characterized by the diversity in the manufacturing of pasta, especially the top quality products like “hard wheat pasta”, the final product manufactured from the finest flour. What distinguishes the company from its rivals in Palestine market is excellent quantitative manufacturing for the market and marketing high quality products. Could you give us information about your facility, capacity and technologies you used? What can you say about the level of your company in capacity and technology usage? KAR owns the latest production lines in pasta manufacturing. The capacity and production line of the company is excellent, also it consist of administrative and technical staff who are excellent people with long experience in the field of labor and industry. Are there any other fields you give service besides pasta production? If there are other fields you working on or other products, could you give information also about them? KAR is looking for Medium-term strategic plan to add products near to the pasta and we have some of the items that are under study at this moment. Are you working only for the Palestinian market in the pasta industry? Are there any export activities or do you have any goals for export? KAR tried export process which is somewhat useless, with very high export costs. Global competition exists in the market, pasta is considered cheap and we cannot afford the cost of expensive transfer taking a high percentage of the product price. There is no problem of industrialization, but the situation is difficult for the pasta. Could you give us some information about pasta production and consumption in Palestine? Pasta made from durum wheat flour that is mixed with water and it goes through the so-called profile template and then into the oven under certain temperatures. It remains for a period of time inside the oven so you lose a large amount of water and humidity reaches 12 percent in the final products. Final product then goes to line packaging and then to the store and then for marketing. Used mainly as food and meal but some of it is used in capillary sweets. What do you think about the future development of your country especially in terms of pasta industry? There is a vision for the development of the pasta industry to suit the Palestinian market of quality and quantity terms. As KAR FOR MACARONI, what is your future goal for the investment and market objective? KAR production capacity for pasta is excessive enough for us for 5 years to come; we are looking to add additional production lines to cover other items as well as our products that we don’t produce at the moment. What would you like to add? We hope to develop the pasta industry department in the company and add new lines to manufacture, and also hope to possess new possibilities for manufacturing and cover all the Palestinian, Arabian and International markets.