I have spent 3 days, introducing a group of savvy German investment officers to the wonders of Israel. These guys travel extensively. They were supported to 2 class-acts of IT experts. And yet……

First, they were introduced to the wonders of the Investment Promotion Authority. It would be unwise to dismiss this team as just another set of boring civil servants. In a dry but professional manner, they made the point that Israel, specifically Jerusalem, has much to offer a new r&d centre. Consider Intel with its massive plant in the north of the city – they American giant has already sank US$5.75 billion int Israel.

Then we met with the biz dev group of Ernst & Young in Israel. They linked us up with a series of private seed investors. The range was clearly beyond anything known or anticipated by our visitors.

Next steps? The Germans had wanted to take the development process over to Europe. They now realise that this would force them to abandon the commercial and techniocal expertise available in the Holy land.