Israeli Experts Advise the Czech Republic: Be Creative, Innovate and Fully Use Your Potential

30 May. 2013 | CzechInvest, Ministry of Industry and Trade | According to specialists from Israel, the Czech Republic has potential for development of high-tech industry, which can ensure rapid economic growth.

A Czech-Israeli workshop took place on Wednesday, 22 May 2013, at the Ministry of Industry and Trade. Israeli specialists in the areas of venture capital, technology incubators and technology transfer, which helped to revive the Israeli economy, travelled to the Czech Republic in connection with the Technology Mission project conducted by CzechInvest and the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Israel is the world leader in terms of the amount of venture-capital investments as a percentage of GDP, as well as in the number of newly registered patents. “Israel is a major inspiration for us, which is one of the reasons that we selected it as a destination within the CzechAccelerator 2011-2014 project. Further proof of the good cooperation between the two countries is decidedly the programme of cooperation with Israel on the GESHER/MOST research projects,” says Petr Očko, acting CEO of CzechInvest and director of the EU Structural Funds Section at the Ministry of Industry and Trade. “Venture capital, technology incubators and seed funds are important tools for the further development of the Czech economy and we are using Israel’s experience in the preparation of new measures to support innovative Czech firms.”

The members of the Israeli delegation who brought their knowledge and experience to Prague were Eliezer Manor, cofounder of the Mofet venture-capital fund; Rina Pridor, initiator of the Israel government’s programme to support technology incubators; Shlomo Maital, professor at the Samuel Neaman Institute; Ayla Matalon, instructor of high-tech business at Tel Aviv University; and Ilan Peled, director of the Magnet programme, which has the purpose of building ties between businesses and the academic sphere.

The Israeli economy, which survived mainly on orange exports as recently as the 1950s, has become a high-tech power in recent years. Whereas orange exports remained practically unchanged, software development gained prominence. Israeli exports have grown by more than 500% in recent years, from USD 7 billion in 1987 to USD 39.7 billion in 2006.

According to the experts, this extraordinary development is due to creativity, a clear objective and, mainly, hard work. “You have to plan for something like this, build it up step by step, dedicate a lot of time to it and understand each aspect as a part that must work in conjunction with the others. It is a long process and support from the government is essential at the beginning,” said Rina Pridor, a specialist in the area of technology incubators, describing the mechanism of success. Sixty-five percent of projects located in Israeli technology incubators receive funding for expansion of their investment plans from private entities.

According to the speakers, the similarity between the Czech Republic and Israel is obvious. Both countries have a small domestic market and lack abundant mineral wealth, while neither is firmly linked to another strong economy. High-tech industry can neutralise these disadvantages. Therefore, the Czech Republic should focus on the development of technical and natural-science fields and the interlinking of the private and academic spheres, while not being afraid to innovate and seek new paths. “In some respects, Czechs are the same as Israelis, though in other ways they are completely different. Instead of imitating a foreign model, you have to create your own innovation ecosystem adapted to Czech history and culture,” said Professor Shlomo Maital of the Samuel Neaman Institute.

In the closing discussion, the experts summarised their recommendations: investigate, innovate, emphasise the education of young people and focus on sectors with a future and maximum revenues such as biotechnology, nanotechnology and ICT.