Op Eds & Articles
IAC: I understand this is the first time Israel has had a pavilion at an Expo.
Jackie Eldan: That’s correct, but Israel has participated in various Expos in the past around the world. It’s the first time ever that we’ve taken the decision to build a pavilion. It’s a major step and a major effort. When one thinks of a pavilion, one thinks of a small exhibition but at the Expo it’s a major construction, which is very unique and very complicated.
IAC: Why a pavilion this time and not the last time there was an Expo?
JE: The simple fact is because it takes place in China, in Shanghai. It’s a city that Israel regards as very important, for instance, in our commercial relationship and our history and our heritage. We have within China a priority in building our commercial relations, in expanding exports to China and cooperating. The Expo is a spectacular platform in enhancing this cooperation, exposing more of Israel’s capabilities and intensifying the excellent relations we already have.
IAC: What are the statistics for bilateral trade?
Jackie Eldan: Israel’s bilateral trade with China is in a way imbalanced. We buy two times more than what we sell but if we look at the region of Shanghai and the other three adjacent provinces, there Israel sells more to China than it buys. On the whole we are around US$ 6 billion trade between the countries, which jumps every year in significant numbers, excluding 2009, in which there was the financial crisis. The figures dropped a bit but we’re looking forward to 2010 as a continuation of the last decade in which in each year there are leaps and jumps in the numbers.
IAC: As consul-general your role must include increasing the Israeli element in the bilateral trade and presumably that in part was a factor in the decision to build the pavilion at the Expo.
JE: Correct. That’s a major factor. Our exports just to the province of Shanghai stand at around $0.5 billion and we import from the region of Shanghai around $200 million a year. We consider the whole of China as a priority and we figure that participating in the Expo in this manner would help expose Israeli capabilities and would also be beneficial on other levels meaning that it would intensify the Israeli and Chinese relationship. China values very much the Israeli effort of going ahead and building the pavilion. We are getting political messages that this effort and the reason for it is highly appreciated in China. It is also a way for Israel to say ‘thank you’ to the city of Shanghai – a city that gave refuge to Jews during the Second World War. In the most difficult time for Jews in human history, it was Shanghai that opened its doors to Jews even though later on they were facing a very difficult reality themselves – war, the Japanese occupation… The Jews in Shanghai enjoyed safe haven. So it’s a combination of a bilateral relationship, a heritage and a commercial platform.
IAC: Tell me a little about the pavilion.
JE: The pavilion is a unique structure designed by two architects – Mr. Haim Dotan and Mr. Prosper Amir. It looks a bit like a handshake or a seashell or a yin and yang circle. Half of it is stone and half of it is glass. It’s been nicknamed in Chinese Hai Bei Ke, which is seashell and matches the city of Shanghai, which has also the component of sea in it. The stone part represents the heritage, the history, the Wailing Wall, Jerusalem. The glass part represents the sky, the sea, technology, the innovation, the ingenuity. The Expo’s theme is Better City, Better Life. Israel’s derivative from this is Innovation for Better Life.
IAC: How will you be filling the pavilion in terms of getting that message of innovation across to the Chinese?
JE: The visitors that will step into the Israeli pavilion will go through a unique experience. First of all, they will think that you have left China and entered Israel. Secondly, he or she will be entering through an orange garden, which already there via various screens will be exposed to images of breakthrough technologies; for example the famous camera pill that assists doctors to see what goes on inside your body without any intervention; or other breakthrough technologies in agriculture, in telecommunications, in the water industry. While entering into the pavilion the visitor will enter a major hall, in which the visitor will see in a 360 degree multimedia experience. We do not want to reveal much of what the experience is because it is so unique but it will be a combination of images and messages about ingenuity to improve human life.
IAC: Do you intend signing contracts in the pavilion itself or is it more of an introduction to Israel?
JE: This question defines what we are aiming at. By definition, Expo is an image exhibition for countries and major institutions. We try to break the platform into two. On the one hand we will absorb around two and a half million visitors and they will go through the experience I just mentioned. But parallel to this we have pinpointed or portrayed those sectors that are very important for the Israeli industries in China: tourism, water technologies and new energy, agriculture, telecommunications, the diamond industry. We planned in advance with a senior Israeli minister accompanied by relevant companies from Israel meetings in the pavilions with companies from China. We’ll do what’s called in the business one on ones aimed at exposing the possibility of cooperation and of course we have very nice receptions in our pavilion in which we’ll invite all the relevant Chinese leaders in the industries and every evening in the pavilion will end with a spectacular fireworks show. If this leads to the signing of contracts, business, exchange of technology, commerce, we have reached a target.
IAC: What would you hope you would be able to describe as a success come the end of the six-month life of the pavilion?
JE: At the end of the Expo, I would say would be a little premature. We would like to look at the figures, the macro-figures of commerce between China and Israel in the years 2011 and 2012. We hope to see a continuation of the incredible growth of our commerce and more Israeli companies in China and more presence of Chinese companies in Israel, especially in the fields of research and development. Another thing that would make us very content is if we were really able to applaud two and a half million Chinese who visit and open a small window towards Israel and then we could see more Chinese tourists going to Israel. This would be an immediate indicator, which we can follow throughout 2011: by month, numbers of people, numbers of flights. In general we’d like to also maintain the excellent image that we enjoy in China. If more people know about Israel and can relate Israel to the fact that it is an innovation center and a high-tech society, then I think we’ve made another small difference.
Photo: Courtesy of the Israeli Consulate, Shanghai
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