W O R K S H O P on
EU-Israel Innovation and Investment
Bridging European and Israeli Business
25 January 2021 | 09.00 CET / 10.00 IST
The Delegation of the European Union to Israel invites you to a comprehensive workshop on EU-Israel innovation and investment.
Join us online as experts discuss EU-Israel collaboration in the fields of High-Tech, Clean-Tech and Food-Tech.
Strengthening Investment Opportunities in EU-Israel Economic Relations
EU-Israel relations are characterised by stable and long-term historical ties. Israel is a unique economic partner in the EU’s neighbourhood, with a highly developed innovation ecosystem, producing cutting-edge technologies across sectors.
With the aim of promoting cooperation between EU and Israeli business operators, investors and other stakeholders, the European Commission has funded a project to strengthen EU-Israel economic relations, particularly in rapid-growth sectors.
Under the Project, Support to strengthening of investment opportunities in EU-Israel economic relations, a team of experts has prepared a study report containing three sector-specific policy papers on the clean-tech, high-tech and food-tech sectors. The papers highlight the current opportunities and challenges in these sectors, explore synergies in areas where an increasing presence of EU economic operators can be mutually beneficial for the EU and Israel, and presents ways to deepen EU-Israel trade and investment relations.
On 25th January 2021, the EU Ambassador to Israel, Emanuel Giaufret will welcome officials and business from both sides to attend an online workshop, where the study experts will be joined by a high-level panel to debate the study findings and sector challenges and opportunities. Panelists will discuss ways to strengthen investment opportunities in EU-Israel economic relations and offer networking opportunities for all business online attendees of the workshop.
The Study Report
The Clean-Tech Sector
The Food-Tech Sector
The High-Tech Sector
Global climate change and population trends have increased the need for innovative technologies and solutions in the agri-food industries. Food-tech is an umbrella term for technologies that seek to change how food is researched, composed, manufactured, processed, packaged, stored, transported, sold and consumed – which includes sub-sectors such as food processing and packaging technologies.
To spur further innovation and the growth of the food-tech market, the EU needs to seek partnerships and engagements with external markets. This is where Israel comes into play, the 6th largest market in the world for food-tech investments and home to 376 active companies, many being early-stage but highly ambitious start-ups, with 148 being founded in the last four years alone.
Many EU food-tech needs have a great potential to be matched by Israel’s capabilities in the sector, where the food industry has strong foundations in scientific research given the need for Israel’s agricultural self-sufficiency.
The report’s study on the high-tech sector investigates the current state of the EU-Israeli economic relationship as it relates to the high-tech sector, by examining the presence and the activities of Multinational Corporations (MNCs) as well as Small-Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Israel and the European Union.
When it comes to the Israeli high-tech sector, the study reveals that EU engagement falls short of its potential. In addition to representing a disproportionately small percentage of overall investment into Israel, the data show that EU investment falls behind those of competitors such as the US, China and the UK. Similarly, the study found that Israeli start-ups often disregard the EU as an option and expand to other markets such as the US due to awareness and information gaps in addition to perceptions and overall competition. While SMEs do not constitute a significant proportion of the EU economic presence in Israel, the study suggests that they can be a promising source of potential collaboration.
The clean-tech study investigates EU-Israel collaboration in the clean-tech sector, examining the current state of relations, EU engagement in the Israeli market and unexploited synergies between these markets.
The premise of the study was that there is significant potential between the two players for wider mutually beneficial cooperation. These assumptions proved true.
The EU is widely recognised as a global leader in the clean-tech industry, being one of the foremost promoters of and investors in innovative technologies that help mitigate environmental risks for future generations.
The EU has been at the forefront of international efforts to fight climate change.
The flourishing high-tech ecosystem in Israel and the innovative clean-tech sector offer an abundance of opportunities for EU Member States with different needs to boost their technological edge and gain in on the latest clean-tech innovations.