Gov. Sonny Perdue is to lead a delegation of Georgia technology and bioscience industry representatives on a trade mission to Israel Nov. 4-11.
The governor, along with officials from the Georgia Department of Economic Development and Georgia business leaders, will meet with Israeli government officials and potential technology and bioscience investors in the cities of Haifa, Jerusalem, Nazareth, Ra’anana, Tel Aviv and Yokneam-Megiddo.
The American-Israel Chamber of Commerce Southeast Region is to coordinate meetings with Israeli companies, venture capital firms, university personnel and technology incubators that are focused on agricultural research, life sciences, medical technologies, nanotechnology, software and telecommunications.
“It makes good business sense to go,” Tom Glaser, president of the chamber, told GlobalAtlanta, noting that it will be Mr. Perdue’s first trip to Israel.
Mr. Glaser said the invitation list for Georgia companies to participate has not yet been formulated; however, both the Georgia Department of Economic Development and the American-Israel chamber are targeting Georgia companies that are actively involved in or pursuing business relationships with Israeli companies. Likely Georgia participants in the mission will include company representatives in telecom, software, bioscience and related sectors, Mr. Glaser said.
“During the trip, we also expect to hear some announcements of Israeli companies planning to invest in Georgia,” he added.
While in Israel, the governor is to participate in the Israeli prime minister’s economic conference to be held that week, as well as meet with 300 members of the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta who will be visiting Israel on a mission at the same time.
There are some 50 Israeli companies with offices in the metro Atlanta area, and Israel was Georgia’s 26th largest export market in 2003, according to the latest data available.
Contact Aaron Bernstein at the Israeli chamber in Atlanta at (404) 843-9426 or aaron@aiccse.org for more information.