TEL AVIV — In order to further deepen ties between Manitoba and Israel in the fields of medical research, commercial business development, agriculture, water technology and ecotourism, Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger went on a mission to Israel last week, along with the provincial ministers of water stewardship, Christine Melnick, and innovation, energy and mines, David Chomiak
Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger, centre, David Barnard, president of the University of Manitoba, left, and Menahem Ben-Sasson, president of Hebrew University, sign a memo of understanding.
“It’s a very dynamic country. No two ways about it,” Selinger said on his final day in Israel, where he arrived on Oct. 10. “Any country where Starbucks can’t get a foothold and local cafes are bustling and successful, you know is a country that’s doing pretty well.”
During the seven-day trip, Selinger met with Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Silvan Shalom and Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. He oversaw the signing of memos of understanding between the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the University of Manitoba’s Asper School of Business on agricultural and medical research and commercial business development, between the Province of Manitoba and the State of Israel on the development of water technology, and between Manitoba and the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI) on ecotourism.
Under the universities’ agreement, the University of Manitoba (U of M) will be working with the Yissum Research Development Company, an arm’s-length corporation of Hebrew U, to identify technologies produced by U of M that are suitable for commercialization.
The agreement will enable teams of MBA students from U of M to work with Yissum and the developers of a chosen technology to develop a proposed venture and prepare a business plan to bring this venture to the market.
Selinger also dedicated the Playground for Peace at the Arab-Jewish Community Center in Jaffa and inaugurated a youth leadership program, to which Manitoba committed $40,000 (US). He visited Better Place, an Israeli company that develops networks and services to support electric automobiles, and went to the Augusta Victoria Hospital in east Jerusalem, where the Manitoba government has instituted a busing project to improve health-care accessibility for dialysis and cancer patients in the West Bank.
“The mission covered many diverse dimensions,” Selinger said. “It has been an intense week, and a very good week. We have learned a ton. The highlight has been the total amount of dynamic activity going on in Israel, the push to make things better.”
Selinger was particularly impressed by the collaborative medical research currently taking place between Hebrew U and U of M on HIV/AIDS and Parkinson’s disease.“We have very smart people collaborating to solve these big problems. It’s very exciting stuff. They are doing research that can have major global implications, that has the potential to change people’s lives dramatically.”
He was also pleased with the agreement signed between his province and the SPNI to co-operate on ecotourism initiatives focused on birding and guiding.
“We [in Manitoba] have many migratory paths and we do a tremendous amount to protect birding. We are very interested in promoting ecotourism, and our agreement to collaborate on conservation techniques is a unique and promising one.”
A special feature of the mission to Israel was a performance of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, which is celebrating its 70th anniversary with a tour of Israel. Selinger, along with Canada’s new ambassador to Israel, Paul Hunt, hosted a reception after the ballet’s opening night last week at the Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center.
“It was a great evening, and they [the ballet] are great ambassadors both for Manitoba and for Canada,” Selinger said.
The trip is one of several Manitoban missions to Israel that have taken place since the beginning of 2010, including two major Manitoba-Israel water symposiums hosted by the Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael – Jewish National Fund, aimed at bringing together Israeli and Manitoban researchers and policy-makers to boost co-operation on mutual water issues.
“The relationship between Manitoba and Israel has been building. There are a lot of good dimensions to it and it is built on a very positive foundation,” Selinger said. “The hope is that we will continue to strengthen this relationship, and that it will continue to generate positive outcomes – economic growth, environmental protection, scientific and technological advancement – for both Manitoba and Israel. We are leaving with people feeling very positive. That’s the bottom line.”
With files from Rhonda Spivak
