India-Israel signed 12 MoUs worth US$4.3bn.

The business communities of India and Israel will jointly work on increasing trade volume between the two countries to US$20 billion over the next five years, up from just over US$4 billion currently.

The potential of increasing bilateral business was highlighted during the first India-Israel CEOs (Chief Executive Officers) Forum held on 6 July 2017 in Tel-Aviv, coinciding with the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a first by Indian head of state.

The trade volume growth will be supported by 12 Strategic Business Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs), worth over US$ 4.3 billion, which were signed between Indian and Israeli companies during Modi’s visit.

The MoUs are for Agriculture, Irrigation & Water treatment, Urban infrastructure & transport (including high speed railways and metro), Pharma and life-sciences, Digital technologies, IT & ITES, Start-ups and innovation and Defense and homeland security.

The MoUs are to revitalize and steer Indo-Israel economic and investment relations, the first formal meeting of

Pankaj Patel, President, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and Chairman, Zydus-Cadila Healthcare Ltd and Indian Co-Chair of the Forum, led a 16-member delegation of Indian CEOs to participate in the CEOs Forum Meeting.

The Forum identified and stressed on the need to realize opportunities in focus sectors identified during the first meeting of CEO’s Forum.

“We count on leading companies at global level that will be able to contribute to the economic development of India,” said Shraga Brosh, President of Manufacturers Association of Israel and Chairman, Presidium of Business Organization and Co-Chair of the CEO Forum from Israel.

“We have identified great business opportunities for Israeli companies in India in sectors such as transport infrastructure, including roads, railways, civil aviation and traffic management systems, smart cities, renewable energies, water and environment, automotive, food, naval and aerospace industries, and defense,” he said.

A dedicated desk has been set-up in Invest India, national investment promotion and facilitation agency, to promote Israeli investments into India and partnerships between India and Israel.

It will act as a single window agency providing comprehensive services for all Indo-Israel ventures.

FICCI and Manufacturers’ Association of Israel (MAOI) have been mandated to be the technical secretariat for the India-Israel CEO’s Forum. fii-news.com