July 9, 2015

The Israeli Ministry of Economy and the German Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy are celebrating 50 years of Israeli-German relations. In cooperation with the Israel Export Institute, the economy departments recently invited 150 senior officials and businesspeople to a Germany-Israel Innovation Day.

Israel and Germany mark 50 years of diplomatic relations.
Israel and Germany mark 50 years of diplomatic relations.

“The Germany-Israel Innovation Day is a unique opportunity to focus on future-looking industries. We must work together to nurture and to promote innovative businesses in both our countries and to maximize our shared advantage,” said Brigitte Zypries, Germany’s Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.

During the Germany-Israel Innovation Day 2015, 25 senior spokespeople from both countries took part in four panels on digital media, cyber-security, life sciences and smart transportation.

Among the participants in the event were CEOs and senior officials from leading German firms such as Merck, Deutsche Telecom, Deutsche Bank, SAP, Bosch, BMW and others, alongside senior officials from the Israeli industry, like Chief Scientist at the Israeli Ministry of Economy Avi Hasson, high-tech entrepreneur Yossi Vardi and entrepreneur and former Chief Scientist Orna Berry.

“Some German companies like SAP, Merck and Deutsche Telecom have already begun harnessing the strong points of Israeli high-tech to their advantage. And still, I wholeheartedly believe there is much more potential for developing new and different types of cooperation. This is why we want to use today’s Germany-Israel Innovation Day as a springboard to the future. We intend to focus on cooperation in the fields of information technology and communications, life sciences, health and cyber-security,” said Zypries.

According to the Foreign Trade Administration at the Israeli Ministry of Economy, Germany is Israel’s third largest trade partner.

“The economic relations between Israel and Germany are significant and stand on a solid foundation of partnership and mutual responsibility,” Israeli Minister of Economy Arie Dery said at the event.

“The governments of Germany and Israel operate a wide range of programs for cooperation on research and development, in an effort to promote industrial and technological developments by uniting capabilities and knowledge shared between researchers and entrepreneurs from both countries […] in a manner that allows Israeli and German companies to develop new products and services, jointly and with support from both governments. The Ministry of Economy’s trade missions in Germany are at your service, cherished businesspeople, and are ready to assist you in any way necessary.”

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