Senior Policy Advisor to the British Prime Minister, Mr Rohan Silva, will be leading a high-level business delegation to visit Israel, between 19-22 May 2013.
Some of the UK’s largest retail companies, ranging from high-street supermarket chains to internationally-renowned luxury brands, will be accompanying Mr Silva to experience the wide range of cutting-edge retail-technologies that are on offer in Israel and explore potential business prospects.
The visit has been organised by the Trade and Economic Office at the Embassy of Israel in London and the UK Israel Tech Hub at the British Embassy in Tel Aviv, in partnership with The Israel Export Institute and UK Israel Business.
The combination of the UK’s world-leading Retail Industry and Israel’s globally-recognised technological leadership will present unique commercial opportunities for both countries and this visit aims to offer counterpart business leaders the platform to explore these in greater detail.
While in Israel, Mr Silva and representatives of the British corporations will be meeting with over 20 Israeli companies to witness the very best and latest solutions on offer in retail-technology – mobile payments, augmented reality, consumer engagement and big data to name but a few examples.
The delegation will be visiting several incubators and innovation hubs, such as the eBay Social Centre, the Google Campus in Tel Aviv, Microsoft’s R&D centre and the JVP Media Lab. Throughout the four-day visit, delegates will have the opportunity to network with over 100 of Israel’s leading technologists and innovators, from companies such as Retalix, Zooz, Sisense, Clicktale and Zollo.
Mr Rohan Silva commented that “It’s an honour to be leading this trade mission of British retail companies to Israel. Britain’s retail industry is one of the most innovative and exciting in the world, with a higher proportion of retail sales taking place online than any other country. I’m looking forward to helping forge new connections between our leading retailers and cutting edge Israeli technology companies, and generating new investment opportunities for British companies. This will not only help to create new jobs and innovations in the UK, but it will also help to strengthen the economic ties between the UK and Israel.”
Mr Noah Shani, Minister for Trade and Economic Affairs at the Embassy of Israel in London explained that “The technologies on offer in Israel can enable these UK companies to further improve their efficiency as retailers, while also providing them with commercial assets to leverage a unique competitive advantage. This delegation serves as another layer in the strong, comprehensive technology-dialogue that exists between our two countries.”