The annual Israel Dealmakers Summit kicked off last week in Silicon Valley. The event was sponsored by the Landmark Investment Fund in association with Deloitte and GE. The conference is the flagship event promoting economic relations between Israel and the US and American investments in Israeli Industry. The conference was being held in California, the state with the highest number of multinational corporations with R&D centers in Israel (some 80 centers). The Foreign Investment and Industrial Cooperation Authority of the Israeli Ministry of Economy and Industry was a key partner in the conference along with the Israeli Trade Mission to the West Coast.

Top-ranking executives from over 1,000 multinational corporations as well as leading investors and entrepreneurs from Israel and around the world participated in the event. Amongst the speakers: Prof. Amnon Shashua, Founder & CEO of Mobileye, which just last week was acquired by Intel for $15.3 billion. That move is the latest in a trend illustrating the key role the US plays in foreign investments in Israel. Some 70% of multinational companies with R&D centers in Israel are American, as well as a high percentage of foreign companies with production facilities in Israel, such as HP and Applied Materials.

The conference’s keynote session featured Mike McNamara, CEO of Flex, a leading multinational electronics company. Flex centers in Israel employ 4,000 staff members. The company recently announced its intentions to expand its activity in Israel, and to invest in local startups. The opening date of the conference also marked the launch of the company’s new R&D center in Haifa, which will be involved in several fields of innovation, including medical, automotive and IoT.

Ziva Eger, Chief Executive of The Foreign Investment and Industrial Cooperation Authority, noted: “We are pleased to take part in a conference that has drawn so much interest from American industry. This shows a high level of faith in Israel as a key player in technological innovation and advanced production techniques. I invite more multinationals to take part in our unique ecosystem and to take advantage of the Foreign Investment and Industrial Cooperation Authority as a ‘one stop shop’ for investing in Israel.”

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)