Population: 8.5 million (July 2018 est.) Ease of Doing Business Ranking: 49th (June 2018) Economic Freedom Ranking: 31st (2018) Trading Partner Ranking: 38th (2016) Bilateral Trade: S$1.86 billion (2016)
Israel stands out as a world leader in the technology (tech) sector, despite its small population relative to other industrialised nations. It has a strong national emphasis on R&D, with the highest percentage of GDP invested in R&D among the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries1.
As the world’s 32nd largest economy2, Israel’s economy is led by an export-oriented tech sector, an industrial manufacturing sector, and a highly skilled workforce with a strong innovation culture. With a GDP of US$350 billion (S$472.5 billion) in 2017, the country has averaged 3.3% growth per annum since 2000.
Home to major corporate players in the tech industry, Israeli scientists, engineers and technicians have made significant contributions in the fields of agricultural sciences, cleantech, computer sciences, electronics, genetics, medicine, natural sciences, optics, solar energy, various fields of engineering and watertech.
Ride on Israel’s strengths in technology to enter the Israeli market – particularly in the areas of industrial Internet of Things (IoT), autonomous vehicles and robotics.
1 “Gross domestic spending on R&D”, OECD, 2019 2 "World Economic Outlook Database", International Monetary Fund, 2017
Despite its small population, Israel has become renowned as the Startup Nation, with the highest concentration of startups in the world after Silicon Valley. This successful startup ecosystem is driven by the government’s innovation policy, technology innovation from the national military forces, and the Israeli culture of “chutzpah”, or the courage to think independently.
Israeli entrepreneurs are known for building value in startups through deep tech innovation and R&D for quick and successful exits, where startups are sold or acquired. The startups are primed to work with international partners, with foreign capital making up more than 80% of all investments into Israeli startups.
Your company can benefit from Singapore’s reputation within the Israeli tech sector as reliable business partners. Explore co-creation partnerships and help Israeli startups to scale globally.
While Israeli startups traditionally expand to the US as their first overseas market, they are increasingly interested in opportunities in Asia. Capitalise on this to act as an intermediary for Israeli companies to access markets in Asia and Southeast Asia.
If you are keen to partner an Israeli company for co-innovation projects, you can access funding provided by the Singapore-Israel Industrial R&D Foundation (SSIRD). Singapore companies, including startups, have taken this route to develop products in the infocomm technology, Industrial IoT, medtech, security, and robotics sectors.
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