NE NEWS SERVICE
JERUSALEM, DEC 19
Veteran industrialist Ratan Tata will be honoured by the Indo-Israel Chambers of Commerce for promoting innovation that supports sustainability and peace in the region, including with the Palestinians.
The chairman emeritus of the Tata group will be honoured with ”Global Visionary of Sustainable Business and Peace” award during the launch of the Federation of Indo-Israel Chamber of Commerce’s international chapter in Dubai on Monday (December 21, 2020)
The virtual ceremony will be attended by senior officials from Israel, India and UAE.
“Tata has done a lot for India-Israel ties. He has generously contributed towards promoting innovation that supports sustainability and has been a promoter of peace in the region, including with the Palestinians. He has visited Israel a few times which has been extremely beneficial in promoting ties between the two countries. He very well deserves this honour,” Raviv Byron, President of Israel-India Chamber of Commerce, said.
The 82-year-old industrialist and philanthropist is the recipient of two of India’s highest civilian awards – Padma Vibhushan and Padma Bhushan .
The opening of the Federation of Indo-Israel Chamber of Commerce’s international chapter in Dubai is the first such initiative aiming at tapping business opportunities together in other countries, and developing trilateral collaborations.
This is expected to pave the way for several other such international chapters for the bilateral Chamber in other parts of the world, Byron noted.
“There is a large presence of Indian diaspora in the UAE and Bahrain which includes top professionals who are well established and respected. Given the close ties between Israel and India, we can definitely work together to develop a framework for trilateral cooperation in the Gulf”, he added.
The Tata Group has invested millions of dollars in Tel Aviv University’s (TAU) Technology Innovation Momentum Fund. As the lead investor in the fund, Tatas have the right of first opportunity to negotiate licence agreement on areas that have been defined as start-up fields like automotive, point of care for medical devices, cleantech, etc.
In 2018, TAU and Tata Trusts announced the launching of the Indian Centre for Agri & Allied Tech (I-CAT) that would facilitate bringing Israeli know-how and innovation to the farmers of the state of Andhra Pradesh, initially, and was to be later extended to all the other parts of India.
The initiative, supported by the Government of Andhra Pradesh, includes creating an advanced R&D centre, as well as promoting activities of agricultural experts in villages and farms — aiming to overcome various technological, agronomic and economic barriers, and promote sustainable agriculture and food security.
During his visit to Israel in 2013, Tata had signed an agreement with Israel Aerospace Industry (IAI) to jointly develop, manufacture and support a wide range of defence and aerospace products including missiles, UAVs, radars, electronic warfare systems and homeland security systems.
