Israel’s reputation as an innovation nation – which seems set for very pointed reinforcement in 2014 – long ago began approaching the status of conventional wisdom. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made it a central feature of his recent speech at Davos, and collaboration with the Jewish state is now sought on everything from space exploration to the development of human capital.
Last May, a summit in Israel highlighted the role that Israeli innovation can play in helping Asian countries cope with critical demographic, social, technological, and environmental problems. Israeli-Indian cooperation, in particular, subsequently saw dramatic boosts.
Strategic ties between the two democracies had been deliberately incubated by former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Last month India and Israel established a $40 million fund “to “help Israeli companies participate in large Indian government-led ventures, foster collaboration of Israeli and Indian companies in R&D projects and seek to adapt products developed in Israel for the Indian market.”
Late last year, India committed to buying fifteen drones from Israel. More recently, Israel agreed to help New Delhi develop a missile defense system:
Defense News reported the proposed system will integrate India’s long-range Prithvi air defense missile system, which is understood to be ready for deployment in 2015, with a mobile radar system being developed by BEL in partnership with IAI. India’s DRDO will work with IAI and Rafael on this program. India is currently expanding and upgrading its armed forces and is one of the world’s biggest arms importers.
India is not the only country to Israel’s east looking to collaborate with Jerusalem. Last January, Israel hosted a group of South Korean entrepreneurs, pairing 15 aspiring businesspeople with Israeli mentors to work at companies such as Wix, Ginger, Giza Venture Capital and others. Israel’s Consul General to the Republic of South Korea, Ami Orkaby, noted at the time that Israelis could also benefit to learn from Koreans’ experience managing larger companies.
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