By H.E. Ambassador of the State of Israel in Romania, Mr. Dan Ben-Eliezer
“This year we celebrate sixty four years of Independence of the State of Israel. We celebrate this living dream which is the rebirth of the Jewish people in its national homeland, with Jerusalem at its heart.Israel is a mosaic of cultures and customs matched by the richness of our historical landscape. Our country is a strong democracy that values justice, peace and humanity, which were first expressed by the prophets of Israel to be an integral part of our nation’s sense of mission. Israel is an active player in the world’s economy. It ranks among the leading countries worldwide in the Nasdaq list of high-tech companies. Israel’s main asset is its human capital, a resource of creativity and excellence. In this respect, our country is a centre of high tech industry and scientific innovation, where many of the world’s largest companies have established R&D centers, encompassing wide range of advanced technology sectors. The State of Israel even takes part in the international effort to aid others by sharing knowledge, experience and technology.Our country enjoys longstanding friendly relations with Romania. As our Prime Minister, Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu states, “Every Israeli is either of Romanian origin, or has a Romanian friend.” We are strategic partners, we share the same principles and values and a long tradition of cooperation in many important fields. A recent important stage in our excellent bilateral relations was the first Government to Government meeting that was held in Jerusalem in November 2011 and gathered top Government officials. On this occasion a Joint Declaration was signed, emphasizing our historic partnership and the aim to further strengthen the cooperation in diverse sectors.In the economic sector, Israel is present in Romania with a significant number of well established companies in a wide range of fields. There is a constant growth of foreign trade and investments, the Israeli ones surpassing three billion dollars. In the future we would like to expand the collaboration between our two countries particularly in fields such as ICT, biotechnology, clean tech, homeland security, agro and water technologies, as well as to promote each others’ tourism markets. For example, in the agricultural sector, Romania and Israel are complimentary to each other. Romania is rich in natural resources and experience and Israel has the advanced agro-technology. The Governments of our two countries should continue to further enhance the cooperation and advancement of innovations through initiatives such as joint projects, joint research and developments and encourage participation of agro-technology companies in agricultural events and exhibitions.The special bond between our two countries is also remarkably reflected in the cultural domain. Israeli and Romanian artists from various disciplines take part every year in cultural events of both countries. Last year Israel was well presented in the prestigious George Enescu Festival, this year the distinguished Israeli writer Amos Oz was in Bucharest, leading Israeli dance and theatre companies are once again present at Sibiu International Theatre Festival, musicians are invited to important Jazz Festivals and Israeli movies are screened at Romanian Film Festivals all around the country. Looking ahead, I believe that there is enormous room and potential for further collaboration between Israel and Romania. In this respect, we should encourage the young generations to widen their knowledge of each others’ cultural, history and linguistic characteristics. On this happy note, I take the opportunity to express my sincere thanks to the Government of Romania for its continuing and unfailing support to the Embassy of Israel, as well as to the Jewish community whose contribution to the strengthening of the our countries’ relations should be highly commended.”
