Which areas will Indian businessmen benefit from bilateral trade?
One of them is Information Technology and the software industry. If companies from both countries can co-operate to work in Third World countries, we can do wonders. You see, Israel is not competing with India as far as Information Technology is concerned. We can therefore complement each other. The future is here. There is a great interest among Israeli businessmen in trade with India. In June 2000, the heads of Exim Bank went to Israel to promote financial support for commercial activities. One of the results of the visit was that the Exim Bank of India signed agreements with the three biggest banks of Israel, Bank Hapoalin, Bank Leumi and Bank Discount. Just these three banks cover 75 per cent of the banking activities in Israel.. That is why I feel so optimistic. Is not tourism another area? More and more Israelis are coming to India. We now have two direct flights to Mumbai from Tel Aviv by Elal, our national carrier. Last year, we had 50,000 Israelis coming to India. As many as 1
