Israel and China last week signed an agreement to set up a joint R&D fund. The fund is part of a wider agreement for expanding trade and economic cooperation between the small and medium-sized business organizations of the two countries.
Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor Ehud Olmert and China’s Vice Minister of Commerce Wei Jianguo, on a visit to Israel, discussed ways for expanding bilateral trade. Earlier, Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor director general Raanan Dinur and Jianguo signed an agreement to set up a joint $3 million R&D fund. Israel and China will each invest $1.5 million in the fund, which will support joint telecommunications, agrotechnology, biotechnology, environmental, water purification, and medical devices projects.
Under the agreement for expanding trade and economic cooperation, Israel recognized China as a “market economy”, while China recognized Israel as a “preferred tourist destination” and “preferred investment target”. The agreement also stipulates that a joint working team will be established, which will submit within three months proposals for reducing Israel’s trade deficit with China by making it easier for Israeli companies to participate in Chinese government projects, and by finding large telecommunications, agrotechnology, water purification project in which companies from the two companies are jointly work in.
Jianguo said the goal was to expand bilateral trade to $10 billion by 2008, compared with $2.37 billion for January-September 2005.
Israel’s trade with China in January-September 2005 was 26% higher than last year, but Israeli exports to China fell by 2% to $529 million, while Israeli imports from China rose by 38% to $1.84 billion.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on November 6, 2005