Israel says it could help in developing SL’s business ability

Sanjeevi JAYASURIYA

The Sri Lankan agricultural sector could benefit from the technical cooperation from Israel where the country is expected to transfer knowledge and technical know-how.

“We see a paradigm shift in the Sri Lankan economic and political landscape where Israel could play an active role in developing business stability.

“Israel invests heavily in research and development and the country has an enabling and supporting environment to further develop the agricultural sector,” Israel Minister and Israel Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Yahel Vilan told Daily News Business.

The significant investment in the area of research and development has given the competitive edge and Israel is able to increase productivity and output in the agriculture sector, which maintains the same level of exports in the past years, he said.

“We are a small country and there is greater connectivity among people. This has enabled sharing ideas that give rise for better processes.

We have deployed sophisticated techniques to deal with agro related issues.

The strong academia-industry relations, scientific approach to increase yields, quality and nutrition level which increase resistance to adverse impact, has resulted in a better output,” he said.

Technology is the backbone of the industry in Israel and the country is interested to share its technological expertise with Sri Lanka.

The development of Sri Lanka - Israel trade relationships would improve the volumes further, which have huge potential at present. Sri Lanka could benefit from innovation and technology, where effective policy intervention would develop the country’s agricultural sector in the long run, Vilan said.

Israel is comparatively a small country with a seven million population where 30 percent comprised of immigrants.

The trade component in the economy is 30 percent of the GDP and the country is heavily engaged in exports and imports. Among its key exports are fresh flowers, biotech and organic farming produce.