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April 2, 2010
Good trade in Canada
Israel will open an economic mission in Calgary.
RHONDA SPIVAK
The Israeli government’s Economic Mission to Canada for the first time will be opening an office to service Western Canada.
“We feel that when we have an office in Calgary, that there is huge potential to increase trade between Israel and Western Canada. We want to give Israeli companies
the chance to find Canadian partners and vice versa,” Israeli Consul General Amir Gissin told the Independent.
The head office for Israel’s economic mission, whose mandate is to promote trade, investment opportunities and joint ventures between the two countries, is in Toronto and there is also an office in Montreal.
Jonathan Levy, Israel’s trade commissioner, noted that bilateral trade between Canada and Israel has been on the rise, now amounting to “about one and a half billion dollars, with a surplus to Israel, meaning that Israel exports more to Canada than she imports.
“We realize that without an on-the-ground presence in Western Canada, it is difficult to achieve the business result that we want to achieve. We are missing a lot of opportunities that we can capitalize on,” he said.
One of the reasons that Calgary was chosen for what Levy described as a “pilot project,” is that the Calgary Economic Development Centre and [three-time] mayor of Calgary David Bronconnier have been actively promoting their city as a place for conducting international business.
“They are creating an international centre and providing office services in a very accommodating way, that will give us good access to the economic organizations of the city. Israel is one of the first countries that are going to try this model, and the City of Calgary is very eager to have us come aboard,” said Levy.
The decision by Israel’s foreign ministry to open up the Calgary office is the result of ongoing discussions that Gissin and Bronconnier began having more than six months ago.
According to Levy, Israel will be looking to form partnerships with Canadian companies in the fields of “IT, medical devices and clean-tech [environmental technology] in areas such as water and renewable energy.”
Noting that “more than 95 percent of all laptop computers have been designed in Israel” and that the RIM “Blackberry has an Israeli heart,” Gissin said, “It is only natural for Canada to look to Israel in the high-tech field,” adding, “in a sophisticated world, every country is looking for strategic partnerships.... Calgary is a very good fit for these types of partnerships.”
According to the Calgary Economic Development website, “over half of Alberta’s fastest-growing companies are in information and communications technology ... Calgary is the home to the largest number of technology start-ups per capita in Canada.”
Gissin also pointed out, “The Israeli and Canadian economies have one thing in common – both focus on American markets. The difficulties in the U.S. market have caused Israel and Canada to look less towards the [United States] and more towards each other.”
When asked whether other Middle Eastern countries were opening similar offices in Calgary, Levy said, “No, to the best of my knowledge, we are the first ones.”
Levy said that the person hired to staff the Calgary office “will not be a diplomat,” but rather a local, non-Israeli professional who is familiar with business in Western Canada. At this time, they are in the process of interviewing potential candidates.
Levy said that if the pilot project works in Calgary, it is possible it will be replicated in other cities in Canada.
“Our efforts will be systematic,” he explained. “We are going to screen who would be good counterparts, potential partners, and we will look for mutual benefits. We will measure our results. If we find it is a successful model, it could be duplicated.”
Although the Jewish community in Calgary is relatively small, Gissin said that was not a factor in the decision to open an office there. “We’re coming to Calgary to do business,” he said.
Rhonda Spivak is a Winnipeg freelance writer and editor of the Winnipeg Jewish Review.
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