Expressing confidence in the future of Israeli technology, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates said that his company will expand its investment in Israel in the future.

“We are investing and continue to invest in our research and development in Israel. Our team in Israel has recently been handed with some challenging and ambitious tasks. They are working with new developments, particularly in
the field of digital security. In this area Israel has an impressive record of accomplishment,” Gates said.

Gates made his remarks to the Hebrew daily Yediot Aharonot at the Comdex convention in Las Vegas held in November.

Microsoft has a history of investing in Israeli brainpower. Microsoft Israel, founded in 1989, is one of the few Microsoft outposts abroad fully owned and operated by the U.S. company. The Microsoft research and development center in Haifa is one of a small group of overseas centers
involved developing new products for the U.S. based company.

Gates said that despite the political and security situation, Israel continues to represent the leading edge of innovation, and Microsoft will continue to be a part of it.

“There is no connection between the war that Israel is fighting and the future of the technology that is being created there,” he said. “The vast success of Israel is connected to the excellence of its population. By this
I mean the level and quality of the education that is being acquired in Israeli universities and the knowledge that the immigrants coming to Israel bring with them,” Gates said.
“Because of these factors, Israel has become a place in which the biggest technology companies recruited high-tech brilliance. But since many of these Israelis wanted to stay in their country, we had to open large research and development centers in Israel.”

He said while the company is always concerned about the welfare of its employees, security concerns “won’t stop us from deepening our activities in Israel.”