In February, at the Israel Pavilion at Mobile World Congress, approximately 140 meetings between Israeli and UK companies were co-ordinated by London’s Trade and Economic Office. This accounted for around 10% of the total meetings between Israeli companies and foreign businesses at the Israel Pavilion.

Feedback from these meetings have been most enthusiastic. Danny Atsmon, the Chief Technology Officer or iOnRoad commented that “the Israel Pavilion was a superb set-up. It was a comfortable and professional place to have real quality meetings. Overall, everyone was very pleased by the facilities on offer, especially the level of British companies that we were introduced to. We look forward to being a part of the Israel Pavilion again next year.”

 

Now in its fourth year, Tel Aviv once again hosted the IsraWinExpo in February. This is Israel’s leading wine exhibition, showcasing not only a broad selection of wines but exposing the world to some magnificent wineries across the country.

IsraWinExpo saw visits from a buyer representing a major UK retailer and the journalist Jane Parkinson, whose feature was published in the November Issue of the well-respected wine trade magazine Decanter.

 

Between 4-7 March, the Trade Office, together with various partners, organised the visit of Rt. Hon. Ed Vaisey MP to Israel, accompanied by high-level representatives from several leading media organisations such as BBC Worldwide, Ogilvy, BBH and Samsung, to name but a few.

Centred on Israel’s expertise and reputation in New Media Technologies, the delegation visited several incubators and R&D Centres, including the JVP Media Labs and Microsoft Israel R&D Center, to witness first-hand the exciting range of stimulating new technologies on offer. We received excellent feedback from this visit and one of the delegates featured the visit in his blog. The success of the delegation can be seen in the business deals that have come as a direct result of the meetings that were arranged for the delegation.

 

In March, the Trade and Economic Office brought a delegation of Israeli water companies to the UK, to present their latest technologies within the sector. Whilst in the UK, leading Israeli wastewater treatment, water analysis and irrigation companies presented to UK investors, utilities and engineering firms at our specially organised Technology Splash event run by global law firm Pinsent Masons. The event featured 80 UK companies in attendance and approximately 140 one-to-one meetings took place.

Oded Distel, head of Israel NewTech, said “Israel’s water industry is recognized as one of the most innovative and successful in the world. We’re pleased to see the investment community in the UK now focusing more and more on the business opportunities presented by innovative Israeli start-ups in the water sphere.”

 

In March, together with UK Israel Business, the Trade and Economic Office brought to the UK 9 Israeli oil and gas exploration companies, to explore the opportunities that have arisen following the recent gas finds discovered off the coast of Israel.

This was the first kind of visit that we have organised in this sector, and took advantage of the great expertise the UK has developed in this field. Whilst here the delegation has 55 one-to-one meetings and met with a number of key players and investors in the industry.

 

In May, Med-Invest, the first event of its kind, showcased both Israeli and UK companies, side by side, each of whom were looking for early sage investment in the area of medical devices. This event was unique in that it represented the first truly bilateral event, shining a spotlight on both the British and Israeli medical-innovation industries.

The event itself was very well received, and the companies delivered first-class presentations. Med-Invest had clearly created a tremendous amount of energy on the evening as the feedback from the guests were extremely positive, with many guests praising the innovations on display as being truly remarkable.

We are delighted to have been involved in the organising of this event, which has helped to further develop the meaningful corporation between the UK and Israel that already exists in this field.

 

ILSI-BioMed took place in May, in Tel Aviv, Israel. This conference has become a major international event; hosting the world’s leading names of the bio–technology, pharmaceuticals and medical devices industries. The event drew 6,000 industry representatives, engineers and scientists, with 1,000 participants from 42 countries and in excess of 3,500 one-on-one meetings.

The Trade & Economic Office arranged the UK delegation to the conference, comprising of 10 top industry players. One participant of the UK Delegation wrote that “I have returned from BioMed with quite a few business opportunities and made contact with so many people who we could do business with. My recommendation is to attend next year where I hope to meeting people we already have partnerships with – even having a company’s stand there. The event was excellent and in such a beautiful setting. Next time I must remember to bring some shorts!”

 

In June of 2012, the Trade and Economic Office, together with UK Israel Business and the Israel Export Institute, delivered the Innovate Israel 2012 conference. This was the first landmark conference of its kind dealing with web, mobile and digital media and it enjoyed an unprecedented level of success, including the creation of over 15 separate news articles in national and international news outlets.

While boasting an impressive 30-strong list of key speakers that included Debu Purkayastha (Google), Jenny Fielding (BBC Worldwide), James Bilefield (Condé Nast) and Brent Hoberman (founder of lastminute.com), Innovate Israel also welcomed over 500 UK business leaders, investors, and entrepreneurs, as well as senior politicians and diplomats from Israel and the UK.

In addition to this, a delegation of 30 of Israel’s most exciting and inspiring growth-stage high-tech companies had flown in to showcase their technologies and expose opportunities from the UK market. Due to the interest shown by the UK companies, over 200 meetings that spanned 70 hours-worth of meeting-time, were scheduled by the Innovate Israel team, in addition to countless other meetings that took place.

 

Minister Shalom Simhon MK, Israel’s Minister of Industry, Trade and Labour, visited the UK in June for a four day visit. Minister Simhon was accompanied on this trip by a high-level ministry delegation. His visit was timed to include delivering an address at Innovate Israel conference and it succeeded in strengthening bilateral trade links.

Whilst here the Minister met with senior representatives of British Government, leading figures in UK business and other strategic partners such as the European Bank of Reconstruction & Development (EBRD). A visit was also made to BT’s Global Innovation and Development Centre at Adastral Park to see how Israeli technology is already being integrated into the UK and to encourage future opportunities.

During his visit, Minister Simhon commented that “in a short period of time, Israel has managed to position itself at the top several industries and innovative fields. We seek to share skills and knowledge with our British counterparts and aim to strengthen the infrastructure that will enable developers from both of our countries to collaborate, share knowledge and develop the second and third generation of innovative products”.

 

In September, and for the fourth consecutive year, the Trade & Economic Office in London partnered with the Israel Export Institute to create the Israel Pavilion at IBC, to showcase the advancements from Israel in the new media sphere. With twenty-five companies presenting their solutions in their respective sectors, the Israel Pavilion at IBC served as an energetic hub of innovation. There was significant interest in the Israeli technologies that had been recently used at the London 2012 Olympics, and the future technologies of “second screen”.

Feedback during the show was incredibly positive, with one company executive saying that his meetings at the Israel Pavilion was “the best hour I have spent at IBC” and that they were “the most coordinated and productive meetings I have had this week”. In fact, several of our companies were also highlighted in IBC’s Daily News, including LiveU, Kaltura and Tvinci.

 

Taking place in Paris during October, SIAL is the key innovation marketplace for the global food and drink industry. At SIAL, at least 10 tours of the Israeli Pavillion were pre-booked by London’s Trade and Economic Office, with many other visitors opting to drop by on the day.

Far in excess of 100 one to one meetings took place between the Israeli companies and potential UK and Irish buyers over the five day event. The UK companies were mainly specialist and independent wholesalers and importers.

 

In November, Israel’s hosted Eilat Eilot, one of the world’s most prominent renewable energy innovation conferences. The Conference was a great success with delegates from around the world flying in to hear about latest technologies being developed in the clean-tech sector.
Together with the British Embassy in Tel Aviv, and UK Israel Business, the Trade and Economic Office coordinated the visit of a number of UK delegates to attend this important conference.

 

In mid-November, Tel Aviv played host to the second International Conference on Homeland Security, where over a thousand industry professionals and experts in the field gathered to share the latest developments in homeland security. A small but high level delegation from the UK attended the conference and was able to meet with counterparts and experts from around the world, from both the public and private sectors.

The very latest technologies and innovations from Israel’s Homeland Security Industry were given pride of place under the spotlight, both at the conference’s technology trade exhibition and also at the live exercise demonstration at the port of Ashdod, Israel’s busiest sea port.

 

Taking place in Dusseldorf every November, Medica is the world’s largest annual medical devices trade fair, with more than 100,000 visitors each year. This year, the Israeli Pavilion was bigger and more engaging than ever, and included 40 different technology companies, covering a wide span of the medical industry.