Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne will officially launch the British Embassy’s new High-Tech Hub at a reception for Israel’s high-tech community at British Ambassador Matthew Gould’s Ramat Gan home on Thursday night, 29 Tishrei.

The Chancellor will visit Israel and the PA (Palestinian Authority) later this week for his first official visit here since the Coalition Government came into power last year.

The event, sponsored by Barclays Capital, will bring together 300 leading figures in Israeli high-tech business and finance to celebrate the launch of the Hub. The dedicated High-Tech Hub team will promote UK economic growth by creating lasting partnerships between the UK and Israel in high-tech.

Ambassador Gould explained: “Britain is a natural partner for Israel in high tech.  Israel is a phenomenal source of innovation with more start-ups per capita than anywhere else in the world. Given Israel’s small size, all Israeli companies need foreign partners – for capital, business and product development, and access to global markets. We are close; and we offer access to markets across the world.  We have one of the biggest capital markets in the world; world-class professional services; globally significant customers; four out of the world’s top ten universities; and complementary strengths in high-tech.    It is obvious to me that we can work together to achieve great things.  Britain can help Israeli innovation go global.”

The Hub will ultimately comprise of six dedicated staff members: including a director, and experts in the field of digital, cleantech, biotech and the Arab Israeli high-tech community. All staff members have strong backgrounds in the high-tech sector. Hub director Carmel Gerber’s career spans investment banking, venture capital and startups. Carmel has previously been involved with building bridges between the Israeli and Silicon Valley startup scene and is excited to now focus such efforts on the UK.

The next step will be the establishment of a UK-Israel High-Tech Council to bring together the key figures in tech on both sides, as well as some of the most impressive start-ups and investors. The British co-chair of the Council will be Minister of State for Universities and Science David Willetts, who will arrive in Israel on Saturday with a high-level delegation of a over dozen representatives from Britain’s digital sector.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)