Israel and India cooperate in transportation projects

Israel government is in the process of preparing and executing a master plan in Israel in the field of transportation infrastructure, said Lt. Gen. Shaul Mofaz, Deputy Prime Minister of Israel at a meeting organized by The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here on Wednesday. The planned budget for Infrastructure will see a growth of 50% compared to current budget and there is immense scope for the Indian companies to take advantage of this opportunity, he said.

Israel government is looking forward to involvement of private companies in India as well as Israel in transportation infrastructure structure, said Lt. Gen. Mofaz. Israel is looking at collaboration with Indian Railways to upgrade the existing safety mechanism as well as planning to invest in other businesses also, he added. He informed the participants that Israel is in the process of preparing a Master Plan for infrastructure development in Israel and this would highlight opportunities for Indian companies to look for investment opportunities in Israel. He stressed on Israel�s expertise in providing state of the art Road safety infrastructure and said that they would look forward to contributing e to India in this area. Also, Israel would like to strengthen relationship with India in research and development, infrastructure and investment, said the Minister.

State Bank of India opened its branch in Israel today and this will further improve the trade relation between India and Israel, said Mr. Arun K Singh, Ambassador of India to Israel. This is the first Indian bank to operate from Israel, he added. This will facilitate momentum to the ongoing growth prospect of trade between India and Israel, added the ambassador.

Israel is a trading nation and 70% of its GDP comes through trade, said Mr.David Danieli, Ambassador of Israel to India. He said that Israeli companies are looking for strategic partners in India and are focusing on Indian industry for tie-ups to compete in the global market.

Mr Gideon Siterman, Director General, Ministry of Transport & Security, Govt. of Israel said that there is a lot that the two nations have in common, India being the world�s largest democracy & Israel being the only democracy in the Middle East. This leaves a lot of room for mutual cooperation that would be built on a strong foundation of mutual trust & transparency. He said India could be a gateway to Israel for their entry into the South Asian market while Israel could be a gateway to India for the European markets. In sum, he emphasized if both sides use their strengths well, then they could reap good benefits in the long run.

Earlier, Mr V K Mathur, Chairman and Managing Director, Inapex Limited in his welcome remarks said that when Indian industry is blazing with 9 per cent growth rates; freight-logistics is increasingly being recognized as a growth & a competitiveness-enabler. The Indian infrastructure and cargo-movement sectors have witnessed rapid expansion in the last 3 to 4 years. In the Roads and highways sector, movement of goods has been catalyzed by the expansion of the National Highway Development Project. It is estimated that the cost of logistics in India is 13 percent of GDP while it is below 10 percent for most developed economies.

Lt. General S S Mehta, Director General, CII said that there should be exchange of business delegates between India and Israel to promote two-way trade between the nations. He also said that CII will ensure all necessary support to encourage better trade relationship between two countries in a focused manner.