On Wednesday November 30, the New Direction Foundation hosted Israeli journalist and co-author of the book Start-Up Nation, Mr. Saul Singer. The event was co-sponsored by the Mission of Israel to the European Union.
In his opening remarks, MEP Geoffrey Van Orden of the ECR Group in the European Parliament, described his first meeting with Mr. Singer when they first met in May of 2011. He described the book as being about the Israeli experience with lessons that could be applied around the world.
Saul Singer presented several statistics about start-ups in Israel. For example, 500 new start-ups are launched in Israel each year, 4.5% of Israel's GDP goes to research and development and the amount of patents per capita is one of the highest in the world.
Mr. Singer talked about why start-ups are so successful in Israel. Israel is a country of risk and innovation, and its people are full of determination. Large portions of the Israeli population are immigrants, which makes them highly motivated and driven. The Israeli government for its part has always invested in public-private partnerships and supported high-tech companies.