Promoting Business Relations Between Israeli Companies and the U.S. Market

There are 5 economic missions in the U.S lead by the Ministry Commercial Counsels. Those missions are in charge of promoting bilateral trade and business activities: 

• Mrs. Nili Shalev, New York City New York 
• Mrs. Anat Katz, Washington DC. 
• Mrs. Michal Niddam - Wachsman, Houston Texas 

Mr. Gili Ovadia, San Francisco California: 
last August, the Government of Israel established the new Economic Mission to the West Coast in San Francisco, CA. The Mission is responsible for facilitating and increasing trade relations between the business communities of the West Coast of the United States and the business communities in Israel. We focus on key industries that have a proven synergy between the two sides. 
On February 25, 2014, we will be hosting the first-ever Israeli Cyber Security Showcase, a satellite event to the prominent RSA conference. We will invite local security executives and leaders to meet with fifteen innovative and exciting Israeli cyber security companies. The Israeli companies cover a wide range of cyber security solutions, including mobile device protection, data security for the cloud, and code analysis tools. For more information, please visit: www.israelicybersecurity.com 
  
Mrs. Anat Katz, Washington DC: 
The Commercial Mission of the Embassy of Israel in Washington works in several dimensions throughout the economic- commercial realm. Firstly, the Mission is in charge of promoting the US- Israel bilateral commercial relations on the federal level, and for that purpose, it works with Executive Branch agencies such as The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), the Department of Commerce and the various regulatory agencies (such as EPA, FDA), to resolve bilateral trade disputes and promote bilateral trade and commercial initiatives.  The Mission also monitors U.S. international trade and regulatory developments and prepares reports and advisories for Israeli companies and the Ministry of Economy’s headquarters, to advise them on the potential implications of US trade policy developments.  It also directly advises Israeli companies on their rights under international agreements such as the U.S.-Israel Free Trade Agreement and the World Trade Organization’s agreements and provides guidance to help ensure their compliance with U.S. regulations pertaining to a multitude of sectors.
For more information about the economic missions and the business opportunities in Israel please visit -http://itrade.gov.il/us-dc/ 

Secondly, the Mission has the role of promoting business collaboration between Israeli companies and the US market, within the states of Maryland and Virginia and the District of Columbia. The Mission constantly works to open doors for Israeli exporters in all sectors, and to connect them with other companies, distributers, investors and other US entities to promote bilateral exchanges. A large component of this effort is bringing US business delegations to Israel and Israeli companies to our region.

In this context, the Commercial Mission, together with the BIRD Foundation, brought a cyber-security delegation of 11 highly innovative Israeli companies in May 2013 and arranged for high level discussions and interactions between the companies and their U.S. counterparts from both government and industry sectors (US Department of Homeland Security, SAIC, Accenture, DC Water, World Bank and many others). Later in the year, in December, the Mission organized a mobile health and med tech delegation of 7 Israeli companies to the DC area, in which the companies met with investors, senior executives from Johns Hopkins Hospital and University of Maryland Medical System and with the US Department of Health and Human Services. During both delegations, the companies had very successful one- on- one business meetings with key decision makers and stakeholders from their fields that have led to positive follow ups. 

Last but not least, the Mission works to promote the participation of Israeli companies in projects of the International Financial Institutions that are located in Washington, DC (World Bank and Inter- American Development Bank) and to assist them to win procurement opportunities. Those entities provide billions of dollars annually in loans, grants, equity investments and other measures to the developing world and thus entail business opportunities for companies. 

To contact FICC International Trade Relations Division- click here