The Israeli economy operates in a very often challenging environment, due to the complex geopolitical circumstances in the Middle East. However, despite this, Israel has managed to build an extremely resilient economy. How? Gary Koren, ambassador of Israel to Croatia explained.
Even now, when they are at war with Hamas, estimates are that Israel’s GDP growth will be around 2 percent. Key factors contributing to this resilience include a highly educated workforce, innovation and a diverse economy.
One of the characteristics of the Israeli economy is the high level of investment in research and development, especially in high-tech sectors such as information technology, which has enabled Israel to become a global leader in innovation.
Croatia and Israel have good mutual cooperation. In the last few years, the exchange of goods and services between the two countries was, after all, like the entire international trade, under the influence of global disruptions such as the coronavirus pandemic, due to which supply chains were also disrupted. Last year, the exchange between the two countries was about 275 million dollars, which is a figure that shows that there is quite a lot of room for expanding cooperation.
The possibilities of cooperation were discussed with Mr. E. Gary Koren, Israel’s ambassador to Croatia, who sees potential for cooperation in a whole range of sectors.
“Natural gas, renewable energy sources, agriculture, water economy, defense and cyber security, tourism and medical technologies are just some of the areas where I see potential for cooperation. Through joint ventures, we can develop new technologies and innovations in the fields of renewable energy sources, medicine, agriculture, defense or in any other area of common interest, and export to other markets. The possibilities are great,” says Koren.
He also points out that Israel is not geographically as far away from Croatia as it may seem to some, but also that more frequent direct flights would contribute to connecting the two countries.
Some Israeli investors have had negative experiences with bureaucracy
When it comes to investments, one of the inevitable issues is bureaucracy, which, when it comes to Croatia, is still perceived as a weak point.
“Our investors are ready and willing to invest in markets with clear and transparent procedures and rules. Some Israeli investors have had negative experiences with the Croatian bureaucracy in the past. We hope that this will change and that such situations will remain in the past. In the last two years, Israeli investments in Croatia have been on the rise. We wish success to all our investors in Croatia, and we are following the interest of new investors and we hope to improve administrative procedures”, says Koren.
Israel invests almost 6 percent of GDP in research and development
One of the most important factors in the success of the Israeli economy is the strong investments in research and development, which are among the highest, if not the highest in the world and amount to almost 6 percent of GDP. For comparison, according to data for 2021, Croatia only invests about 1.2 percent of GDP in research and development, Forbes writes.
