Two investor conferences in Japan, initiated by the Foreign Investments & Industrial Cooperation Authority of the Israeli Ministry of Economy and Industry will be taking place on March 8-9, the first in Osaka, the other in Tokyo.
The conferences are held in cooperation with Nikkei Business, the foremost business magazine in Japan. and senior officials from Japanese industry will be in attendance. They will focus on numerous investment opportunities in the field of advanced manufacturing in Israel, specifically in the life sciences.
At the conference in Tokyo, Hiroyuki Yashiro, President of TDK Lambda Global, will present the success story of TDK Lambda in Israel. Noam Zilbershtain, GM of Digital CZT Detectors CoE, GE Healthcare in Israel, will speak in Osaka with representatives of Japanese multinationals about the success of GE Healthcare in Israel. Gilad Peleg, founding-partner in Corundum Open Innovation, will describe to potential Japanese investors the flourishing life sciences and medical equipment ecosystem in Israel.
A number of Israeli Biomed startups will take part in the two conferences, including Insightec, Persys Medical, Vayaar and Sensible Medical. Each of these companies offers groundbreaking solutions that can transform medical research and treatment as we know it.
Ziva Eger, Director of the Foreign Investments and Industrial Cooperation Authority, said that “in Israel, there is a unique ecosystem that enables innovation, including in manufacturing. There is great interest from the Japanese business world in Israeli innovation in the field of medical equipment, which comes from a real demand in the Japanese population. We aim to encourage investors to invest in Israeli Biomed companies specifically, and in Israeli industry in general.”
Ohad Cohen, head of the Foreign Trade Administration at the Israeli Ministry of Economy and Industry, said that “in light of the challenges facing the Japanese economy, the life sciences sector in Japan is a key target of the Israeli trade mission.”
Japan is experiencing negative population growth due to a negative birthrate (1.4 children per family on average) and an exceptionally high life expectancy. The Japanese government is investing approximately 9.3% of GDP on the healthcare system and is working assiduously to revitalize it. To this end, the Japanese government is encouraging cooperation with entities outside Japan and between academia and industry.
Japan is an important trade partner for Israel. In 2015, Israeli exports to Japan reached close to $770 million, with imports from Japan to Israel reaching $1.3 billion. In addition, following the strengthening of relations between the two countries, the Israeli government made a decision in 2015 regarding an overall economic plan directing all relevant government ministries to further strengthen ties between the two countries.
