‘Innovation key to Bahrain-Israel ties’

Agencies | Tel Aviv        

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Reported by Julia Cassano

Innovation initiatives between Israel and Bahrain are needed to bring sustainability to the relations and further people-to-people ties, HE Khaled Yousef Al Jalahma, Ambassador of Bahrain to Israel, said yesterday.

Addressing the Innovation Accords Event in Israel, which was held in the backdrop of the upcoming anniversary of the Abraham Accords, the ambassador talked about the collaboration since the signing of the accords three years ago.

Bahraini doctors have been undergoing training as part of a two-year programme at Sheba Medical Centre in Israel since then, he said. The medical centre is willing to assist in creating the first innovation centre in Bahrain, the ambassador added while terming the collaboration as very effective.

Further, the ambassador commended the success of the Connect2Innovate programme. “The idea was to bring together Bahraini and Israeli companies in Bahrain to discuss areas of similar interests and collaborate.

The event proved very successful as 600 companies from Bahrain and Israel participated in the conference and four companies had signed MOUs to collaborate by the end of the third day,” he said.

Speaking of the challenges in the collaboration, the ambassador said, “The first thing we had to do was realize how developed Israel is when you talk about the high-tech culture and the vibrant ecosystem that exists.”

It would take time to sync with such a system, the ambassador said. “For us the challenge was to look for the opportunities that would allow for us to adopt certain cultures in the high-tech industry, and how we could try to create an ecosystem that resembled the Israeli ecosystem,” he stated.

At the event, Start-Up Nation Central, which is a nonprofit organisation that connects governments, corporations and investors to the Israeli innovation ecosystem, announced a new tech leadership program that invites Bahrainis and later, those from the UAE and Morocco, for six-to-twelve-month hands–on experience to work with Israeli companies and venture capital firms.

It was also announced that the next Connect2Innovate conference is in the works and will take place in Bahrain under the patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, which will feature prominent regional figures and will give Israeli entrepreneurs the opportunity to tap into the GCC market.

Stephanie Hallet, Charge d’Affaires at the US Embassy in Jerusalem, spoke about the significant progress made since the signing of the Accords. “The knock-on effects are incredible especially in the medical space with great professional exchanges of partnerships that are happening where countries are able to leverage their expertise here in Israel, and also take advantage of big data sharing,” she stated.

When highlighting the incredible partnerships and exchanges of knowledge, Hallet said, “It is only because of the Abraham Accords that we can connect, use, and share one another’s technology to exchange our best practices, and this is just the beginning of the story.”

When discussing shared challenges among countries, the CEO of Start-Up Nation Central Avi Hasson said, “As a region, we have shared opportunities and challenges, where innovation and technology can drive relationships further. Innovation, tech, and new generations are the key to strengthen people-to-people bonds and solve shared challenges with one another.”