Israeli to focus on Asian-African markets
The Israeli Government would be on exploring the possibility of re-starting negotiations on the India–Israel Free Trade Agreement (FTA), said Ohad Cohen, Trade Commissioner & Director of Foreign Trade Administration, Ministry of Economy.
An agreement will be signed between Invest India and the Foreign Investments and Invest in Israel, he said at the India-Israel Business Innovation Forum.
The Joint R&D Fund, created last year among, would also be operationalized among other initiatives, he added.
Israel is focusing on Asia and Africa as new trade growth centres, as it expands its markets beyond Europe and the West, added Shraga Brosh, President, Manufacturer’s Association of Israel.
Within that expansion, India has a major role to play, stressed Brosh.
The Israelis are looking to expand cooperation in sectors such as agriculture, smart cities, clean energy, water management others.
The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) is working to improve the business environment in India to help Isreali companies set up in the country, assured its secretary Ramesh Abhishek.
Speaking at the forum in New Delhi on 19 Jan 2018, he said many fundamental reforms had been undertaken over the past four years including the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
As a result, India’s ranking on the Ease of Doing Business indicators of the World Bank has improved by 30 places. “This process would continue so that we can attract investment from Israel as well as other countries in the world,” said Abhishek.
As a part of this process, many research parks and incubators were being set up. He invited Israeli companies to take advantage of these facilities.
Deepak Bagla, Managing Director & CEO, Invest India, reported a 16-fold increase in the enquiries received from Israeli companies wishing to invest in India over the past six months.
These were in diverse sectors such as agriculture, cyber-security, water, healthcare, aviation, tourism, defence, and mobility as well as innovation and start-ups.
Meanwhile, the Confederation of Indian Industry will take sectoral delegations to Israel shortly to facilitate forging partnership between Indian and Israeli industry.
The objective is to jointly apply for funds under the India-Israel Industrial R&D and Technological Innovation Fund (I4F) which was announced in Israel last year, said Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General of CII.
Seven MoUs were signed between Israeli and Indian organizations:
Foreign Investments and Industrial Cooperation-Invest India
The Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute-The Confederation of Indian Industry
Manufacturer’s Association of Israel-Confederation of Indian Industry
Israel-Asia Chamber of Commerce-Confederation of Indian Industry
ContextSpace Solutions Ltd-Tech Mahindra
Water-Gen-Tata Projects Limited
Cortica Ltd-Best Ltd.
In addition, MassChallenge Israel jointly with Deshpande Foundation and NASSCOM India announced a Start-Up challenge for Indian Start-Ups.
Tech Mahindra with the support of the Israel Innovation Authority announced a strategic programme focused on bringing startups in direct contact with clients to solve business problems. fii-news.com
