India, Israel firms ink 12 strategic business MoUs worth over USD 4.3 billion: FICCI

To revitalize and steer Indo-Israel economic and investment relations, the first formal meeting of India-Israel CEOs forum was organized here on Thursday to coincide with the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Israel.

Pankaj Patel, President, FICCI and Chairman, Zydus-Cadila Healthcare Ltd and Indian Co-Chair of the Forum, led a 16-member delegation of Indian CEOs to participate in the CEOs forum meeting.

Patel said, "The India-Israel CEOs Forum has been constituted at the time when we are commemorating 25 years of our relationship to extend an institutionalized platform to harness the economic complementarities of our vibrant economies for collectively staking claim to global business and investment opportunities. The presence of top CEOs from both the countries as Forum members would add needed operational vision for them to undertake harmonized efforts for realizing cooperation in developing new and innovative areas of collaboration".

It is a very exhilarating for me to share that during this historic visit of our Prime Minister to Israel, 12 MoUs are signed between Indian and Israeli companies. The most of these Indian companies signing MOUs are also their CEOs as part of the India Israel CEOs Forum."

Shraga Brosh, President of Manufacturers Association of Israel and Chairman, Presidium of Business Organization and Co-Chair from the Forum from Israeli side, said: "We have identified great business opportunities for Israeli companies in India in sectors such as transport infrastructure, including roads, railways, civil aviation and traffic management systems, smart cities, renewable energies, water and environment, automotive, food, naval and aerospace industries, and defense. In all these sectors, identified as a priority by the Indian government, we count on leading companies at global level that will be able to contribute to the economic development of India."

During the Forum meeting, Invest India which is India's National Investment Promotion and Facilitation Agency and promoted by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India, shared that a dedicated desk has been set-up in their organization to promote Israeli investments into India and partnerships between India and Israel. It will act as a single window agency providing comprehensive services for all Indo- Israel ventures.

Post the meeting, the CEOs Forum members called on Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Benjamin Netanyahu, and Co-Chair from both sides submitted a brief meeting outcome report to them for developing future course of economic engagements.

The forum identified and stressed on the need to realize opportunities in focus sectors identified during the first meeting of CEO's Forum. There was a consensus that the current trade volume amounting to just over USD 4 billion, has the potential to reach USD 20 billion in the next five years. To realize this goal, the Forum underlined key recommendations to two Head of States.

Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) from India and Manufacturers' Association of Israel (MAOI) have been mandated to be the technical secretariat for the India-Israel CEO's Forum.