Russia and Israel Discuss Holding Joint Events at SPIEF 2019
Adviser to the Russian President Anton Kobyakov and the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the State of Israel to the Russian Federation, Gary Koren held a meeting in Moscow.
The key issue discussed at the meeting was the possible formats for an Israeli delegation to take part in the upcoming St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, which will be held on 6–8 June.
“One of the formats for holding a joint event during the SPIEF 2019 could be a Russian-Israeli panel discussion on collaboration in innovation policy, retail trade, or education in the innovation sector”, Koren said. Israel is currently holding talks with the Skolkovo Foundation on a business event that focuses on cooperation in innovation policy in May 2019 in Moscow as part of the run-up to the SPIEF 2019.
During the meeting, the ambassador also noted Israel’s interest in collaboration with Russia’s regions. “In particular, the SPIEF platform presents opportunities for Israeli business to directly interact with the heads of the regions of the Russian Federation and will continue in the form of specific business projects. Israel’s interest in the Russian livestock and diamond industry is also high”, Koren said.
“We can offer various forms of cooperation to Israel, both in terms of the Forum’s business programme and in terms of organizing business missions by Israeli representatives to Russia or Russian representatives to Israel. We are open to all proposals for arranging the relevant meetings and discussions. In addition, Russian and Israeli companies have signed a number of agreements on the joint production of innovative products and cooperation in the commercialization of innovations, which are also being implemented at international and multilateral events in Russia and abroad. Russian companies are active on the Israeli information technology market, which is largely due to how developed innovation is in Israel”, Kobyakov said.
At the SPIEF 2018, the Israeli delegation was headed by Ze’ev Elkin, Minister of Jerusalem Affairs, Minister of Environmental Protection, and Co-Chairman of the Joint Russian-Israeli Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation. This marked the first time in the history of the SPIEF that a business event was held on the theme of healthcare that was devoted to aspects of building up mutually beneficial cooperation between Russia and Israel. In particular, the two countries announced the creation of a working group to exchange experience in healthcare, Israel and the Skolkovo Foundation signed an agreement on medical data, and the opening of a branch of the Jerusalem Hospital Hadassah was announced at the Skolkovo International Medical Cluster.
The two officials also discussed Israel’s possible participation in other business events organized by the Roscongress Foundation, such as the Eastern Economic Forum (4–6 September 2019).
