Canada, Israel to continue with joint R&D projects

Monday, October 24, 2005

OTTAWA — Canada plans to establish joint research and development projects with India, Brazil and China based on the model and success of its joint ventures with Israel.

Minister of International Trade James Peterson made the announcement at the 21st meeting of the board of directors of the Canada Israel Industrial Research and Development Foundation (CIIRDF) held here recently.

With the renewal of CIIRDF’s commitment from both governments until the year 2010, Israel has now become Canada’s longest-standing technology partner. Five new projects were unconditionally approved at the meeting, with another pending, for a total value of over $8 million. The projects are from the aerospace, medical devices, software and manufacturing sectors.

Peterson praised CIIRDF’s results and spoke with optimism about its ongoing work. “I understand your record with commercialization has been very high, and that for a small sum of $10 million over the last decade, Canadian businesses have had returns of some $70 million,” he said. “We are particularly pleased with the enthusiasm that [CIIRDF president] Henri Rothschild has brought to this organization.

“I certainly intend to be a force in our trade relationship, and we look with a great deal of hope at what we see in the Middle East today and we wish you continued success and a very warm shalom,” Peterson said.

Eli Opper, chief scientist in Israel’s Ministry of Industry and Trade, chaired the meeting. He thanked the Canadian government for its co-operation. “I can assure you that we are thrilled with the level of participation and the very hard work that has been brought to us through the aegis of Mr. Blais [Jean-Jacques Blais, former Canadian minister of defence] and the other Canadians who have been involved in this work,” he said.

Following the meeting in Ottawa, Opper and other CIIRDF directors travelled to Toronto for meetings with representatives of the Ontario government to begin implementing the Ontario-Israel Science and Technology Agreement signed earlier this year by Ehud Olmert and Premier Dalton McGuinty.

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Canada, Israel to continue with joint R&D projects