Israel-Asia Center’s young leaders secure over USD 185 million of investment from Asia in Israeli economy

Over USD 185 million of investment has been secured from Asian markets in the Israeli economy – by alumni of the Israel-Asia Center’s Israel-Asia Leaders Fellowship.

The figure, most of which was secured over the past three years, comprises over USD 163 million of investments and deals secured from Asia in Israeli companies in the fields of ICT, cybersecurity, agritech, healthcare and medtech – from Singapore, India, China and Japan.

An additional USD 22 million are attributed to direct sales by Israeli companies in the sectors of pharma, logistics, retail and ICT, to China, South Korea, Japan, Singapore and Thailand.

The data was collected in a recent survey conducted by the Israel-Asia Center. Since 2011, the Center has been training young leaders from Israel and across Asia to become force-multipliers in the Israel-Asia arena through its prestigious Israel-Asia Leadership Fellowship, with its graduates making significant contributions to Israel-Asia bilateral relations.

Commenting on the investment secured by Israel-Asia Leaders Fellowship alumni, Israel-Asia Center founder and executive director, Rebecca Zeffert said, “This is exactly the kind of ripple effect we set out to achieve when we first started out with this program. We are proud to see how the Israel-Asia Center has not only strengthened the relationship between the future leaders of Israel and Asia, but has also directly supported the Israeli economy in such a meaningful way.”

Zeffert added, “We are living in a new global reality – an Asian Century – driven by Asian economies, markets, increasingly Asian ideals, cultures, demographics and needs. And over the next year, given the downturn in the economy due to Covid-19, our work in helping to connect Israel with Asia’s economic powerhouses has never been more vital.”

The Israel-Asia Center

The Israel-Asia Center (www.israelasiacenter.org) is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to empowering, informing and connecting the Israel-Asia leaders of tomorrow and ensuring a secure and prosperous future for Israel in the Asian Century.

The Israel-Asia Center was founded with an understanding that the majority of the world’s population lives in east, south and southeast Asia, and that this region is projected to contain four out of five of the world’s largest economies by 2030.

The Center’s Israel-Asia Leaders Fellowship is an eight-month program in Israel for Asian and Israeli students and young professionals, aimed at building the future leaders of Israel-Asia relations in key-influencer fields, such as business, government, innovation and technology, media, education and culture.  The program provides them with the high-level contacts, skills, tools and support network to develop high-level partnerships between Israel and countries in Asia.

The program has trained almost 100 young leaders from 14 different countries across Asia – including countries that have no diplomatic ties with Israel, like Indonesia and Malaysia. Other countries and regions represented on the program are China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Philippines, Vietnam, India, Nepal, Mongolia and Israel.