PM, China VP Launch Israeli Innovation Center In Jaffa

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, along with visiting Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan, are inaugurating the Israeli Innovation Center at the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation in Jaffa on Thursday, hosting hundreds of senior executives from international companies and Israeli firms as well as investors in the tech industry.

The event was preceded by an opening gala in Jerusalem of the Prime Minister’s Israeli Innovation Summit in the presence of Netanyahu, Minister of Economy and Industry Eli Cohen, Qishan; Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba, and Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google, among many others.

During the event, three Israeli startups were awarded the Prime Minister’s Prize for Israeli Innovation as part of a selection process announced last week.

On Thursday, leaders from tech giants such as Facebook, Google, and eBay as well as government and business delegations from around the world, including from Indonesia, Singapore, India, Africa, USA, Italy, France, Australia, the UK, South Korea, Mexico, Switzerland, Russia, and Germany, will attend the inauguration ceremony.

The establishment of an innovation center for Israel was one of President Shimon Peres’ flagship projects before his passing. The center will present the story of Israel as a nation of innovation and showcase Israel’s life-changing, cutting-edge tech developments in an exhibition.

The chairman of the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation, Chemi Peres, said that: “The launch of the Israeli Innovation Center at the Peres Center is the realization of my father’s dream of showcasing under one roof the scientific and technological power of the State of Israel, and its contribution to the advancement of a better world.”

“We are very excited to host hundreds of the most senior executives of leading global companies that will arrive for the inauguration of the Israeli Innovation Center, in order to expand their cooperation with Israeli companies and entrepreneurs, thereby promoting science and economic development in Israel and around the world,” he added.