Speeches

Statements by Senior

Embassy Officials

Proposed Remarks for Ambassador Jones
U.S. Government Financing Programs
November 6, 2007 at 09:00

Distinguished guests, it is my pleasure and honor to welcome you to the second seminar on U.S. Government Financing Programs.  We are honored to have so many high-profile speakers in today’s program. 

During this seminar, you will learn about a number of U.S. and Israeli Government programs that can be of great benefit to your firms.  I would also like to thank a valuable partner of the U.S. Embassy, the Israel Export & International Cooperation Institute, for its indispensable role in making this seminar happen.  I would also like to acknowledge two representatives in the audience who have a lot of experience working with EXIM Bank.  They are Steve Green from Atrafin and Ben Dansker from Toronto Dominion Bank.  I welcome you to introduce yourselves to them at the coffee break.

One of the fundamental pillars of the U.S.-Israel relationship has been our strong bilateral trade over the years.  Since the signing of the U.S.-Israel Free Trade Agreement over twenty years ago -  the first FTA we signed with any country I might add -  U.S.-Israel trade has increased over seven-fold.  Last year, our bilateral trade reached over $27 billion, and we are well on track to exceed that figure in 2007.   

From trade policy negotiations to trade promotion services for Israeli and American companies, the Embassy is working in many ways to strengthen our business ties with Israel.  However, one of the most important ways, particularly now, is through advancing a resolution of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.  One can only wonder what new heights the trade and investment relationship between our countries would scale if there were peace and security as well as real stability in Israel’s complicated neighborhood. 

We are now moving rapidly toward the fall International Meeting announced by President Bush in July.  There is a strong commitment on the part of Prime Minister Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Abbas to lay the foundation for, and begin serious, constructive work on, the vision sought by both sides, of two states, one Jewish, one Palestinian, living side by side in peace and security.  In this regard, I would like to commend PM Olmert’s speech to the Saban Forum in Jerusalem last Sunday to your attention if you have not already seen it.  Although achieving the two-state vision will require difficult compromises by the parties as well as strong regional and international cooperation, I think that there is a widespread consensus on the need to bring an end to this decades-old conflict. 

As part of this effort, we are encouraging economic cooperation between Israeli and Palestinian businesses.  We are working with representatives from both the Israeli and Palestinian Chambers of Commerce to hold a conference in November that will provide a forum to talk business and provide information to U.S. and Israeli business people about investment opportunities in the West Bank.  We encourage U.S., Israeli and Palestinian companies to participate. 

We are also working to improve Israel’s business climate by addressing ongoing barriers to U.S. exports to Israel.  I was delighted to see that U.S. exports from January to July 2007 jumped by 25% from the same period last year.  But while U.S. trade and investment in Israel are obviously significant and growing, I still believe that U.S. exports to Israel should be greater.  There are still issues that need to be addressed in order to expand opportunities for U.S. exporters in Israel.  For example, we are confident that even more U.S. firms would be encouraged to do business here if there were better protection of intellectual property rights.  Ensuring adequate IP protection is vital for creating a hospitable investment climate and for better protecting Israeli innovation and competitiveness.  Innovation, after-all, is the key factor that makes Israel such a world leader in a variety of high-tech industries. 

Israeli Minister of Industry, Trade & Labor Eli Yishai recently met with Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez in Washington to discuss the importance of intellectual property protection to increasing investment in and trade with Israel.  U.S. and Israeli trade officials who recently met in Washington at the Joint Economic Committee also held detailed discussions on intellectual property rights and other issues that prevent our bilateral trade relationship from reaching its full potential.  Senior Deputy Director General Boaz Hirsch from the Ministry of Industry, Trade & Labor, who is with us this morning, led the Israeli side in these discussions.  I look forward to hearing Mr. Hirsch’s thoughts this morning about ways to strengthen our bilateral trade.   I hope that these recent high-level policy discussions have laid the groundwork to eliminate the long-standing obstacles to trade between our countries once and for all.

Thank you for participating and I wish you all a rewarding seminar.