India Pavilion at 400 sq mts will be the largest country Pavilion in MIXiii 2014 with nearly 30 exhibitors, including SMEs, start-ups, and government R&D organisations. This is the first such event to be organized in Israel, and is coordinated by the Embassy of India, Confederation of Indian Industry, and the Global Innovation and Technology Alliance (GITA). Their participation is being sponsored by the Departments of IT & Electronics; Telecommunication; Science and Technology; Small, Micro and Medium Enterprises; and the state Governments of Karnataka; Kerala, Maharashtra and Gujarat.
India and Israel trade and economic ties grew from US$ 200 million in 1992 to US$ 4.4 billion in 2013. Although trade is dominated by diamonds, there is increasing engagement in IT, telecom, water technologies, pharmaceuticals, agriculture and high-tech sectors. There is a healthy growth of trade is services, which was $407.17 million in 2012 an increase of 10.78% from 2011 ($367.52 million).
Israeli high-tech and pharma companies made strategic moves into India by setting up R&D centers, manufacturing plants and subsidiary offices (Teva, Netafim, Ceragon, Truphatek, Check Point, Amdocs, Magic Software, Ness Technologies etc). Tata Consultancy Services, from the Tata Group has an office in Israel since 2005.
R & D and Innovation is giving a fresh momentum to ties between India and Israel the leading knowledge societies of Asia. Since 2005 i4RD, a joint fund for financing industrial R&D projects is implemented by GITA in India and MATIMOP in Israel. In May 2013 MATIMOP and the Government of Karnataka state in India, set-up KIRD, the Karnataka-Israel Industrial R&D program. In April 2013 Tata Group announced an investment of US$5 mln in the Momentum Fund of Ramot Technology Transfer Center, Tel Aviv University.
Vani Rao, Deputy Chief of Mission in the Embassy of India said that India Pavilion is a part of efforts of the Embassy to enhance engagement in high-tech and bio-med sectors, based on a partnership of innovation and R&D. The companies and government organizations participating in India Pavilion are engaged in R&D activities – apart from showcasing their capabilities; they will seek tech collaborations with Israeli/global companies.
Many Indian exhibitors are from the IT, electronics and telecom sectors which are an focus area for India-Israel ties. India has renewed its focus on indegenisation, and design capacity, pushing it up the value chain and giving it a more equal status in as a business partner. Demand for high technology and electronics products in India is projected to increase to US$400 bln by 2020 (gap of US$296 bln in demand and production). This creates a great opportunity in the Electronic System Design & Manufacturing sector to cater to demand and look at India as an exports hub. India’s National Policy on Electronics seeks US$100 bln investments; US$ 80 bln exports; setting up over 200 Electronic Manufacturing Clusters; and creation of 2500 PhDs in electronics annually by 2020. India is offering financial incentives for new units and units relocating from abroad in these sectors.
The Israel Innovation conference MIXiii 2014, which will be the first in the world where Biomed and High-tech will join hands in a unique and exciting new international conference format. The conference will take place at the Tel Aviv Fairgrounds May 20-22, 2014.