October 27, 2010, Updated September 24, 2012

European business leaders and senior trade and industry representatives from 40 countries gathered in Tel Aviv this week, and today are being addressed by Israel’s Minister of Industry and Trade, Benyamin Ben-Eliezer, and Israel’s Chief Scientist Dr. Eli Opper at the first event in Israel’s year of chairmanship of the EUREKA Network.

The EUREKA Network is Europe’s leading platform for R&D-performing entrepreneurs and industries. Israel’s Chairmanship, led by Opper and MATIMOP, the Israel Industry Center for Research and Development, will provide European industries with unprecedented exposure to Israeli ideas, technology, knowledge and entrepreneurship.

The Eureka Network encourages pan-European cooperation in industrial sectors such as IT, biotechnology, energy, water and communications.

The conference participants promote industry, technology, R&D, and international cooperation. They will be joined by a special delegation of 40 companies from South Korea, the first country outside of Europe granted ‘Associated’ status by EUREKA.

Also being endorsed at the meetings is the EUREKA ‘Clean-Tech Initiative,’ to be launched in February, aimed at encouraging project proposals focused on R&D cooperation in the clean-tech sector – renewable energy, environmental and water technologies.

EUREKA supports more than 300 collaborative projects annually, in a variety of industries, totaling over 1.5 billion Euros. These industrial projects match up partners from two or more member countries – including small and medium-sized enterprises, large industry, and research institutes.

With more than 3,800 technology-based start-up companies, Israel is one of EUREKA’s most active participants and Israeli companies have partnered in more than 10 percent of all EUREKA projects.

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