Mississippi Secretary of State to Visit  

Delbert Hosemann, Mississippi’s Secretary of State, will be in Israel in early June for a brief visit.  During that time he will meet with a number of Israeli companies who are considering opening facilities in the US and will have a series of meetings with public agency representatives here as well.   EDI will be coordinating the business meetings for the Secretary. 

Emory University Mission to Israel 

During the week of April 11^th, 13 individuals from Atlanta, Georgia were in Israel under the auspices of the American-Israel Chamber of Commerce of the Southeast in cooperation with the Georgia Department of Economic Development.  The group, whose prime interest area was the life sciences, was headed by Dr. Raymond F. Schinazi, the Frances Winship Walters Professor of Pediatrics and Director of the Laboratory of Biochemical Pharmacology at Emory University as well as a world renowned AIDS researcher.  During their visit the group met with various Tech Transfer Organizations (TTOs) around the country, including those at the Weizmann Institute, Hebrew Univeristy, Tel Aviv University and the Technion, among others.  EDI arranged the appointments for the group and accomnpanied the mission during its stay in Israel as well.  EDI represents the trade promotion interests of the Georgia Department of Economic Development in this region.  

EDI Representative attended the MEDIC and ECOTEC Trade Shows in Athens 

As part of its expanding role in the region, EDI’s Associate Director, Seth Vogelman, was in Athens, Greece at the end of April to attend the ECOTEC Conference and Exhibition as well as the 5^th MEDIC show held there.   These particular shows highlighted activities in environmental technologies and photovoltaic systems, as well as medical technologies, areas where there is a heightended degree of interest on the part of EDI’s client states.   

Delaware Mission Visits Israel 

At the end of April, a high level trade and academic delegation was in Israel as part of the state’s increased desire to upgrade the level of its business interactions with Israel. The state exhibited at the Analiza-MEDAX Show in Tel Aviv on April 26-27 as part of EDI’s space there (along with client states Georgia and Illinois).  In addition, academic members of the delegation from the University of Delaware met with TTO’s throughout the country to discuss further cooperation between the university R&D communities in both locations.  EDI represents the trade and investment interests in the region of all three states.  

Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania Economic Developer Visits Israel 

Early May saw the visit to Israel of Pete Reinke, Vice President for Regional Development at the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation.  During his visit to the country he met with a number of Israeli companies interested in looking at the Lehigh Valley as a foreign direct investment destination.  He also met with a number of Israeli companies who are already operating facilities in the Valley and thanked them for their activities there.   In addition, representatives of 30 Israeli manufacturers attended an “Invest in Pennsylvania Seminar” on May 4^th in Tel Aviv.  During that seminar participants heard about the benefits of oeprating US facilities in Pennsylvania, and were advised of the investment incentives provided by the state to foreign entities locating there.  Also speaking at the seminar were Jonathan Heimer, Principal Commercial Officer at the US Commercial Service in Tel Aviv and Tamar Guy, Executive Director of the Israel-America Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM).  Rounding out the program was a presentation by former California registered lobbyist, Alan Edelstein, who spoke about how to influence state legislatures to look kindly on special problems.    This visit was part of a two week trip to Europe and the Middle East to increase interest in the Lehigh Valley.  EDI represents the trade and investment promotion interests of Pennsylvania in this region.   

Virginia Sends Trade Mission to Turkey 

During the first week of May six Virginia companies travelled to Turkey for a week long trade mission arranged and administered by EDI’s associates in Istanbul.  The event, under the auspices of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership featured numerous one on one meetings with interested potential business partners in Turkey all designed to increase the level of trade between the two countries. Gregory S. Taevs Principal Commercial Officer, U.S. Consulate – Istanbul, welcomed the participants at the opening event on May 3^rd and provided an overview of the local economy to the participants.