TEL AVIV — The David Intercontinental Hotel in Tel Aviv was abuzz with activity last week as representatives of Ontario and Israeli life science business took part in the first-ever Ontario trade mission to Israel and the West Bank.
Dalton McGuinty at the Western Wall
Conversations between delegates were taking place in the lobby, along every hallway and around every corner.
“Governments can provide a framework, but the real work has to be done by you, the Canadian and Israeli businesspeople. I know that once you have gotten to know each other we are going to have a variety of joint ventures, cooperation and collaborations that are going to take our two countries to the next level,” Canadian Ambassador to Israel John Allen said at the opening plenary session May 25.
His prediction kicked off four intense days of talks between members of the life science industry, with the mission’s final two days being spent in Bethlehem, Ramallah and Beirut.
From May 23 to 27, the mission’s leader, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, travelled throughout Israel, from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa to Tel Aviv University and Shai Agassi’s Better Place in Tel Aviv, to the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, to the Arava Institute and Aora Solar Thermal Test Site in Eilat.
Along the way, he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres and hit major tourist sites, including the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum and the Old City of Jerusalem.
On May 27, he also met with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in Ramallah to discuss ways to increase trade between Ontario and the West Bank.
All the while, 40 Ontario delegates, representing 32 life science organizations, got down to business with their Israeli counterparts.
Between networking events, expert panels, and workshops on the Canadian and Israeli markets and their respective business investment laws, tax incentives, venture capital industries and start-up trends, a number of deals were made and memorandums of understanding signed.
By the end of the mission’s third day, agreements were signed between Toronto firms Axela Inc. and Kangaroo Design and Innovation and Israeli joint venture partners on next-generation instrument development. Axela also signed a letter of intent with the Israeli Ministry of Health for the use and distribution of Axela’s breast cancer test.
Claron Technology of Toronto and BrainsGate of Caesarea signed an agreement to develop a system allowing experts at a central location to assist surgeons performing procedures at remote locations, and Profound Medical Inc. of Toronto and Nanomotion in Yokneam signed a deal to advance innovation and commercialization for image-guided, minimally invasive medical devices.
Queen’s University’s Parteq Innovations and Mosaic Crystals Ltd. (of Herzliya Pituach) signed an agreement to further their research collaboration, while York University and Hebrew University reached a deal to continue developing programs in areas of mutual academic interest.
Finally, Teva Pharmaceuticals agreed to invest $56 million (US) to expand its Stouffville, Ont., production plant, and the province of Ontario gave a $6.5-million grant to Teva Canada, which will retain 182 high-skilled workers and hire 20 new employees.
“We’re here in Israel to show how we can improve lives with new partnerships in the life sciences,” McGuinty said. He’s the first Ontario premier to visit Israel since Conservative Mike Harris came in October 1998.
McGuinty initiated the mission with help from the Canada Israel Chamber of Commerce (CICC), the Israel-Canada Chamber of Commerce (ICCC), the Canada-Israel Industrial Research and Development Foundation (CIIRDF), and Israel’s Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labour.
Along with the Ontario life science delegates, the mission was attended by Ontario Minister of Economic Development and Trade Sandra Pupatello, CICC president David Rubin, ICCC president Alan Baker, Israeli Chief Scientist Dr. Eli Opper, Canadian philanthropist and founder of Novopharm Leslie Dan, and Toronto-area Liberal MPPs Monte Kwinter, Eric Hoskins, David Zimmer and Mike Colle.
The mission is the culmination of 3-1/2 years of co-operation between Canada and Israel in the field of life sciences. Since 2006, 12 federal ministers have visited the Jewish state, as have two large provincial delegations.
In addition 10 Canadian university presidents have come to learn how Israeli institutions of higher learning commercialize their research, and in 2005, Ontario’s Ministry of Research and Innovation signed an agreement with Israel’s Ministry of Industry and Labor to collaborate on scientific and technological research and development via the CIIRDF.
Co-operation with Israel was furthered by Ontario’s recent adoption of the five-year “Open Ontario” economic plan, which aims to increase trade between Israel and Ontario from its current value of $1.1 billion.
