Israel keen on research and development ties with GujaratJan 31, 2013
GANDHINAGAR: Israel is keen to increase research and development (R&D) and cultural ties with Gujarat. On his first visit to the state after being appointed the Israeli ambassador to India, Alon Ushpiz, met chief minister Narendra Modi at his residence on Wednesday. He was accompanied by consul general of Israel from Mumbai Orna Sagiv.
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Ushpiz later said, "The chief minister and I discussed several areas of co-operation like agriculture and industrial research and development, solar and thermal power, pharmaceuticals, water recycling and water desalination plants. Our focus is on increasing research ties with Gujarat."
Ushpiz suggested building a corpus for expanding the partnership between the two in industrial development. He said Israel has partnered Gujarat for establishing a centre of excellence for mango and vegetable production.
Israel participated in the recently concluded Vibrant Gujarat investor summit and wants to partner next year's Vibrant Gujarat Agro Tech Fair. Ushpiz added that six rounds of talks on Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Israel and India are over and likely to be finalized soon.
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Israel does not plan to open a business office in Gujarat but talks are on with Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry for opening an Indo-Israel chapter of commerce & industry.
Ushpiz underlined that the Jewish community has flourished over the years in the
state. He invited Gujarat to a water conference being held in Israel next October. Referring to the Israel's huge success in agriculture with minimum usage of water, Modi expressed his desire to send Gujarat's MLAs on a tour of Israel to study agricultural technology and water management programmes.
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He invited Israeli government and companies to become partners in Gujarat's plan to develop economic models of water management and water recycling in around 50 cities of the state.