I never thought of Canada and Israel as two sleeping trade giants who are more or less unaware of each other. Sure, Israelis know that Canada is that place where hockey comes from, it’s cold there, and Israeli supermarkets sell maple syrup with a little red maple leaf on it, Strubb’s pickles and Billy Bee honey mustard. Once upon a time you could even get Presidents Choice products (but not since the independent grocery chain that brought PC to Israel was swallowed up by one of the big national chains about 10 years ago).
And Canadians? Most Canucks are exposed to Israel in the news, and it’s usually dealing with some kind of strife, not as a great place to do business. Canadians think of Israel in terms of international conflict, not in terms of green products, your disk-on-key (invented in Israel), or fertilizer for agriculture.
If this is news to you, I’m guessing that you’re like most Israelis and Canadians who don’t know that the two countries signed a free trade agreement in 1997.
How much business? Well, since the agreement, trade has more than tripled to some $1.8 billion in 2008. I’ll summarize from the link: Israelis are importing the standard machinery, electrical products, paper and newsprint, plastic products, wood, and aluminium. In return, Canucks buy Israeli pharmaceuticals, high tech gear, polished diamonds, optical equipment and organic chemicals – mostly fertilizers.
In order to prod Israeli business people to look at Canada as an investment location and source for partnerships, the Canadian embassy in Tel Aviv and the Israel-Canada Chamber of Commerce hosted a trade seminar in Tel Aviv for Israeli companies interested in doing business with Canada. They expected a couple of dozen responses, but had to move the meeting from the Chamber of Commerce office to a nearby hotel where about 60 Israeli business people showed up to listen to some all-stars of Canadian business push trade with the Great White North.
The seminar was MCed by former Israeli ambassador to Canada Allan Baker, who said the Chamber wants to help Canada become more vocal in Israel. The seminar was the first in a series to educate interested Israeli companies that Canada is a target for them for everything from R & D partnerships to investment to setting up manufacturing centres in the Great White North.
Canada’s ambassador Jon Allen told the Israelis that the bilateral relationship between Israel and Canada has never been better.
“There are not enough Israeli businesspersons taking advantage of this relationship. More Canadians should be here and vice versa,” Allen said.
“We have two countries that are very compatible and should be looking at each other. We don’t always focus on the potential… and have to translate these activities into bigger numbers and more relationships,” Allen told the Israelis.
Rafi Harpaz from Israel’s Foreign Ministry said the purpose of the “seminar is to raise the public awareness that Canada is a great place to do business with, just as Israel is.”
The Canadian embassy trade team is headed by Katherine Gosselin, who discussed the various technical issues involved in trade. She pointed out that as well as a free trade agreement, there were incentives and development funds like the Canada Israel Industrial Research and Development Foundation, access to marketing data, and legal and accounting experts to help Israeli companies open offices in the Great White North.
Panel speakers included Canadian real estate magnate David Azrieli, industrialist Nathan Jacobson, and venture capitalist Sharon Lewis.
For more information on trade between Canada and Israel, read past posts: Israel opening trade office in Calgary and Canada and Israel’s business relationship continues to flourish
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