Wales and Israel can increase their economic links after Brexit says an Israeli trade representative who urged the Welsh to keep promoting the nation鈥檚 potential.
Ofer Fohrer, Israel鈥檚 Head of Economic and Trade Mission to the 海角视频, said the two small countries had strong synergies and can work together to help drive trade and prosperity.
But he said currently Wales was only really on the map in his country with football fans and keen travellers and more should be done to raise awareness of what they could offer Israel and the wider world.
He said the Welsh Government鈥檚 office in the Gulf was an important step in helping build these links and that the growth in tourism had already started to raise more awareness.
Raising awareness
This would help bring more visitors from Israel and also catch the attention of businesses, especially given the easy access to London.
Mr Fohrer said: 鈥淧eople who travel Western Europe will be more knowledgeable about Wales but when it comes to politics, culture, I wouldn鈥檛 say there is a lot of knowledge about Wales in Israel.
鈥淭he tourism message has got through. We have several flights a day to London, they are interesting in London, coming for the culture, the food and history but if they like nature and are happy to drive they travel to Wales. It is closer to London than say Scotland.
鈥淧romoting Wales as a destination for tourism provides more awareness with Israelis of Wales and given the fact Wales is a beautiful country and only two and half hours from London, it has huge potential.鈥
The 海角视频 already has the highest concentration of Israeli companies in Europe - with fewer language barriers as most Israelis speak English, as well as good flight links.
Mr Fohrer does not see this changing after Brexit and believes London will remain a key financial hub.
He added: 鈥淲ales is a two hour drive from London, the cost of living is lower so there is an opportunity for these companies to establish offices in Wales, and not specifically London.
"Given the fact people are working from home right now it is not that important to be honest to have an office in the city of London, it could be in Cardiff or anywhere else in Wales.
鈥淭his is a strategy Wales can pursue.鈥
He added that superb digital connectivity was 鈥渕andatory鈥 and it was important for Wales to stand out from the crowd to get the attention of Israeli companies.
'Reaching out'
He said: 鈥淲ales is starting to reach out, opening an economic office in the Gulf area, this is something we can focus on in Israel.
鈥淚sraeli companies are looking for business partners and locations in the European markets. At the moment it is unclear what is going to be in place the day after Brexit, and the relationship between 海角视频 and Europe, but I am certain given the culture differences, the language differences between Israel and mainland Europe there will still be a strong presence of Israeli companies in the 海角视频. Wales can benefit from this.鈥
He added: 鈥淏oth Israel and Wales are service orientated economies,
鈥淲ales is becoming a hub for fintech companies and Israel is also big on fintech, with 500 start-ups.
鈥淲hen they start to think about what they are going to do they don鈥檛 think about just implementing it in Israel because it is such a small country, 9.2m people, so when Israeli firms start-up they look elsewhere, to North America and Europe, customising the solution to the needs of customers in America and Europe.
鈥淭hey come to the 海角视频 because the 海角视频 is a big market and interconnected to other countries and it makes a lot of sense for companies to open subsidiaries in Wales.
鈥淭here are several already here, particularly in R&D, high quality added value jobs. As there is more and more awareness to the possibilities of Wales as a starting point to the Uk and all of Europe we will see more and more Israeli companies focusing on coming to Wales.鈥
Export opportunities
There was also the opportunity for Welsh companies to export their products - with a trade deal agreed between 海角视频 and Israel.
Mr Fohrer, whose own daughter is 鈥渁ddicted鈥 to Welsh goats cheese, added: 鈥淭here is huge potential here. It is something that needs to be worked on so there is more awareness for Welsh products in Israel because there is potentially a market for Welsh products.
鈥淭here is also a lot of potential for joint research projects, with financial resources from Uk and Israeli governments for businesses to work together to establish new products and services.
鈥淕iven the fact Wales and Israel are service orientated, this could be a good gateway for companies to work together and establish new innovation together and use Wales as a stepping stone to North America and Europe.
鈥淢y message to Wales would be to promote the connectivity of Wales as a base for hi-tech companies looking to penetrate 海角视频 and European markets, focus on connectivity and cost of living, this is attractive for Israeli companies.鈥
