Israel pushing for venture capital fund with India

The Government of Israel is in talks with the Indian Government to set up a joint Venture Capital fund to aid Indo-Israeli technology ventures.

Mouneer Agbariya, First Secretary, Economic Affairs, Embassy of Israel speaking to the media in Bangalore on Thursday said: "We have had a series of discussions with the Government of India to set up this fund which will focus on technology companies which are based on collaboration between Indian and Israeli companies."

He admitted that "so far, we haven't had much of success in our efforts. This is because this concept is relatively new and we are putting in more efforts. But there has been some progress in our talks and we intend to get some clarity when Israel's Minister of Science will visit India shortly."

He further added that with India's software services expertise and Israel's high-tech background, companies formed withthis partnership will be a potent force in the industry.

"We have had similar venture funds with a few countries and all these are doing well. The Chief Scientists Office under the Ministry of Science will be the co-ordinate for this fund," he noted.

Agbariya, stressing the need for such a fund, said that Israel has a leading edge in information and telecommunication technologies, continually attracting the world's attention and attaining a position among the top three competence centres worldwide.

"In addition to funding the JV company, the new fund will enable the investee companies to expand their reach into global markets, as demonstrated by the fact that there are at least 100 successful Nasdaq listed companies from Israel. It is this network we can tap into effectively for technology companies to grow," he added.

He also highlighted the fact that Indian technology companies could benefit from participating in the forthcoming 'Telecom Israel 2004', a bi-annual telecom exhibition and conference, which is a focused effort to expose the Israeli telecom industries, providers and global players for the benefit of business development. This event is an oppportunity to explore the potential for co-operation between nations, business