Israel rises to 7th in GE Innovation Barometer

70% of Israeli executives mentioned the country's good entrepreneurial climate.

17 January 13 15:23, Gali Weinreb

Israel is in seventh place of 25 countries in the GE Innovation Barometer 2013. This year's survey included more than 3,000 executives. GE publishes its annual barometer ahead of the World Economic Conference in Davos. Israel ranked 10th in the 2012 GE Innovation Barometer.

The US tops the 2013 GE Innovation Barometer, with 35% of respondents saying that it is the most innovative country. Germany is in second place, cited by 15% of respondents, followed by China, with 12%. Israel was cited by 2.59% of respondents, ahead of India (2.55%). 70% of Israeli executives mentioned the country's good entrepreneurial climate (down from 78% in the 2012 barometer), the highest proportion of executives who cite their own country. Israel was only matched by executives from the United Arab Emirates.

However, Israeli and foreign executives ranked Israel only 15th in policies for fostering entrepreneurship. The US led in this category, followed by Germany and Japan. Despite Israel's low ranking in this category, Israeli executives believe more than their foreign peers that Israel supports entrepreneurship in a suitable and organized way.

Israeli executives also expressed greater satisfaction than their foreign peers about social support and in the next generation for entrepreneurship (94%). 895 Israeli executives said that to succeed in entrepreneurship it was necessary to understand the customer and to anticipate market developments. 85% of the Israeli executives said that hiring entrepreneurial employees was the key to their success, and 71% said that developing new technologies was the key. Only 39% of respondents mentioned developing new business models, below the global average of 45%.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 17, 2013

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