The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi and the Prime Minister of Israel, Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu at the India-Israel Business Summit, in New Delhi on January 15, 2018.
Considered a global innovation and startup hub, Israel’s close association with India, specifically in healthcare sector, is set to help India acquire new technologies to drive its growth in healthcare sector
The ongoing visit of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has further consolidated India-Israel relations, taking cooperation in health, science and technology to new heights.
“I am delighted that today we have launched the maiden call for joint R&D projects under the ‘India-Israel Industrial R&D and Technological Innovation Fund (i4F)’ which was announced during my visit to Israel last July. This Fund, to be utilised over a period of 5 years, is a welcome opportunity to combine the talent pool of the two countries in pursuit of path-breaking technological solutions that can be commercially exploited,” said Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday as he outlined the potential of the two countries in helping each other grow.
Among the 9 MoUs signed between India and Israel, a joint R&D project between the Central Council for Research in Homeopathy, Ministry of AYUSH and the Centre for Integrative Complementary Medicine, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Israel will soon be started to boost cooperation in the field of research in Homeopathic medicine.
An MoU was signed in this regard between Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, Secretary, Ministry of AYUSH and Daniel Carmon, Ambassador of Israel to India.
This is in addition to a research collaboration agreement signed between Indian pharmaceutical major Sun Pharma and Technion for the development of oncology drugs in 2015. A similar agreement was signed with the Weizmann Insititute for the development of drugs for brain diseases.
Earlier in 2010, Sun Pharma acquired a controlling stake in Taro Pharmaceuticals. Besides, Tata Industries and Ramot, Tel Aviv University (the University’s technology transfer company) have also signed an MoU to fund and generate commercialisation-ready technologies in a wide range of fields, including pharmaceuticals and healthcare among others.
Considered a global innovation and startup hub, Israel’s close association with India, specifically in healthcare sector, is set to help India acquire new technologies to drive its growth in healthcare sector which is at the cusp of a major transformation with a CAG rate in the range of 15-16 per cent.
With 85,000 Jews of Indian-origin living in Israel — many still maintaining their cultural links with India — bilateral cooperation between the two countries will further strengthen the exchange of ideas, innovation and skills to help Indian healthcare sector to plug wide healthcare delivery gaps.
