Location Bratislava Slovakia and Israel want to cooperate in research and development in private sector. This is the conclusion of business mission organized by Slovak Investment and Trade Development Agency (SARIO). Israel is one of the leaders in research and development, in the same time it has top rankings in support of innovation companies and start ups, IT technology centers support, communication systems and equipment. “Israeli companies have great potential for investment in Slovakia. They have the capital for which they need partners in Slovakia. They are interested mainly in investment into existing projects in food processing and machinery industries.” Robert Simoncic, SARIO CEO said. SARIO agency was presenting itself to Israeli businessmen during Business Forum on November 11-13, 2012. 27 Slovak companies and about 70 representatives of Israeli companies have participated at this forum. During the Business Forum about 200 business negotiations took place. The most promising for future cooperation are mainly meetings of companies from the fields of electro mobility and energy sector. The cooperation of Slovak and Israeli companies will be started by the Joint Statement of the Government of the SR and the Government of Israel about the cooperation of private industrial research and development which has been pre negotiated and during this trip some steps got concrete form. The business trip to Israel was headed by Tomáš Malatinský, the Minister of Economy of the SR; SARIO was represented by Robert Šimončič, SARIO CEO. They have together met with the Director of Israeli Export Institute and discussed Slovak-Israeli cooperation. They agreed that the potential of cooperation with Israel (when compared with the EU countries) has not been fully utilized. The Embassy of the SR to Israel co organized this business trip and it was supported by the Embassy of Israel in Slovakia, Israeli Export Institute and Israeli-Slovak Chamber of Commerce. SARIO´s aim is to be a modern agency, which will be perceived by foreign investors and domestic partners as a vehicle for growth and innovation. SARIO wants to assist to the development of the Slovak economy in the maximum extent possible by attracting new investment and offering trade support, which shall bring its results in creation of new jobs and ultimately increase the living standards in Slovakia.
