Introduction
Established in 1948, Israel is the world's only Jewish state, and the sole democracy in its vicinity. Israel is made up of more than seventy different nationalities and cultures and is home to religious and ethnic minority populations such as Muslim Arabs, Christians, and Druze. Jerusalem is the nation's capital, seat of government, and its largest city.
The Israeli economy is a diverse open market economy. Being a relatively young state in the modern era, Israel is recognized as a developed market by many major indices. Israel also became a member of the OECD in 2010.
Israel is also home to many international high tech companies, who understand its cultural and economic benefits, as well as its innovative spirit. Along with local Israeli firms who became an international success, both international and local firms make Israel worthy of its description as ‘The Silicon Wadi’.
Israel is known for its unique entrepreneurial and innovative spirit, and excels in:
- Research and development
- Human capital
- Entrepreneurship
- Venture capital availability
- Utility patents per million population
The Israeli economy is considered to be benefitting from several cultural characteristics of the Israeli society, such as:
- Challenging norms and ‘out of the box’ way of thinking
- Creativity at working under limited resources
- Direct, informal and task oriented approach
The Israeli economy also showed great resilience during the latest global economic crisis. In 2010, Israel was ranked 1st at the ‘Resilience of the Economy’ Index, as part of the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report (WEF GCR).
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07.07.2013
India-Israel trade rises to $6 billion in 2012-13
Hyderabad: Trade between India and Israel touched the $6-billion mark during 2012-13, up from $5.15 billion in 2011-12, according to an official from the Israeli Embassy.
Addressing a meeting here hosted by the Federation of Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Fapcci) and Indo-Israel Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Jonathan Ben Zaken, Attaché - Economic and Commercial Affairs, Embassy of Israel, said trade volumes had grown to this level from a modest $200 million in 1992.
He further said bilateral relations between India and Israel had strengthened significantly in recent years with both nations experiencing a convergence of interests in agriculture, farm research, science, public health, IT, telecommunications and cooperation in space.
The Israeli industry is keen to take advantage of synergies with India in areas like water technologies, information technology and sectors that Israel is strong in.
About 265 information technology companies are doing significant business in Israel.
His country was always looking for innovation in solutions, technology, development and relations between countries, he said.
Fapcci President Srinivas Ayyadevara said: “Early implementation of the proposed free trade agreement between India and Israel will boost the bilateral trade multi-fold.”
Ken Uday Sagar, President, Indo Israel Chambers of Commerce and Industry, explained the potential for collaboration and scope of bilateral trade.