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Israel in ambitious drive to step up competitive innovation

Xinhua, June 22, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Israeli government on Sunday approved to establish a new innovation institution aimed at facilitating state support for entrepreneurship and innovation.

"This innovation authority will help strengthen Israel's international economic relations in all fields," Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon said in a statement.

The National Authority for Technology and Innovation, which will function as the executive arm of the Chief Scientist Office at the Israeli Ministry of Economy, will have the "professional capabilities to allow it to take initiatives and efficiently promote technological innovation in industry at a pace that benefits the market," according to a cabinet statement.

The authority also aims at achieving broad national goals in the coming decade, including encouraging growth of industrial companies, injecting technological innovation into traditional fields which are not traditionally depended on research and development.

The cabinet approved the establishment of the authority on Sunday, saying it would reinforce the government's long-term goals for the hi-tech industry.

"One of the goals we decided on is to support and to promote any proposal that will encourage entrepreneurship and strengthen Israel's position as a 'Startup Nation,'" Kahlon said.

Technological innovation has become a major engine of growth for the Israeli economy in recent years.

Israel's world-renowned Technology Incubator Program has been widely credited with jumpstarting the country's venture capital industry, and, as such, sparking the "Startup Nation."

Over 6,000 start-ups have been founded in Israel over the last decade. Endit