During official visit to Israel, H.E. Zayed Rashid Alzayani, Bahrain’s Minister of Industry and Commerce meets with Israeli high-tech entrepreneur Erel Margalit at Margalit Startup City Jerusalem.
Erel Margalit: “There is cross-party support of the Abraham Accords in Israel, and any government that is formed will continue to work to expand and deepen the relationship between the two countries”
Minister Alzayani: “Negotiations are underway for a Free Trade Agreement. We are hopeful and optimistic this will be signed by the end of the year.”
Jerusalem, Israel, October 31, 2022 – Erel Margalit, founder and chairman of Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP) and Margalit Startup Cities, welcomed H.E. Zayed Rashid Alzayani, Bahrain’s Minister of Industry and Commerce, to their headquarters in Jerusalem, and together with partners from JVP, provided an overview of the work of Margalit Startup Cities in advancing innovation, in social advancements, in developing an ecosystem that brings together public, private, and third sector institutions – including academia.
Margalit welcomed the Minister and told him, “For us, innovation is not only business but a way to bring people together. Margalit Startup City is a place where young people, artists and musicians, Jews and Arabs, come together. We are proud of our work in Tel Aviv too, but in Jerusalem things are deeper. If a bad thing happens in Jerusalem, it affects the world. But if a good thing happens in Jerusalem, it can also ripple out across the world. We are not talking about religion, but there is spirit of good will, that your visit signifies to the people of the city, and to the whole region.”
Presenting the Minister and his delegation with the work of Margalit Startup City in the Galilee in the field of food and climate technologies, Margalit explained the opportunity for regional cooperation rooted in the need for shared responsibility when it comes to the environment and the issue of food security. He noted that, “We were just speaking in Paris with Lebanese entrepreneurs – and now Israel has an agreement with Lebanese government on the gas deal. But even before, the young leaders, the inventors, they want to know what is going on, we are so close, and what we are doing today is something the politicians will do tomorrow.”
Stressing the opportunity to increase cooperation between Israeli technology with Bahrain and countries across the region, Margalit added, “Bahrain is a leader in fintech, and is creating a work place in insurance, and it would be a privilege to work together with you in this field, along with climate tech, food tech, and health tech – all of these technologies can make a big difference.”
Margalit concluded, “Your visit is very significant as we are in Israel, on the eve of elections. There is cross-party support of the Abraham Accords in Israel, and any government that is formed will continue to work to expand and deepen the relationship between the two countries. The relationship between our two peoples, cooperation between innovators, between centers of excellence working together, will continue to grow in the fields of security as well as in the fields of economy and technology.”
H.E. Zayed Rashid Alzayani, Bahrain’s Minister of Industry and Commerce, thanked Margalit for his warm welcome and said, “We also have elections in November, and we will remain committed to the Abraham Accords whatever happens, and there will be many more visits from Bahrain and from Israel, and the only way to look is forward.”
On the potential Free Trade Agreement between the countries, the Minister said, “I met with the Minister, and negotiations are underway for a Free Trade Agreement. We are hopeful and optimistic this will be signed by the end of the year.” He added to Erel Margalit that, “We hope to see your center set up in Bahrain as soon as possible.”
Speaking about the center in Jerusalem, “You have taken something in ruins and turned it into something of hope. I wanted this group to come and see for themselves. I have seen already what change is taking place in Israel, how the landscape has changed with technology, innovation and growth.”
He added, “Israel’s GDP is almost as much as the UAE, but with no oil. You have invested in your people, and you have invested in their brains, and created wealth out of very basic human skills. We are a country that is educated, young, motivated, with lots of local talent and open to foreign talent, and it is time that our private sector makes the transformation from the traditional commerce we have been used to and continue down the road of innovation and creation”.