44 Foreign delegations will attend WATEC 2009

WATEC 2009 is Israel’s prime event for turning the global water shortage crisis and the environmental challenges into a phenomenal economical growth engine
 
Twenty-five ministerial delegations, 19 business delegations consisting of 150 company directors and business people from five continents are expected to visit the 5th International Water Technologies and Environmental Control Exhibition - WATEC Israel 2009 on November 17-19 at the Trade Fairs and Conventions Center in Tel Aviv.
 
WATEC 2009 is Israel’s prime event for turning the global water shortage crisis and the environmental challenges into a phenomenal economical growth engine. The international event aims at strengthening Israel's position as the `Silicon Valley` of the global water and environment technology market.
 
The Israeli water market is internationally conceived as highly developed, benefiting from the several years of experience in managing scarce water resources, while the national industry is widely regarded as a nexus of world-class expertise in the water field. The volume of Israeli water-related industrial export exceeds $800 million a year, mainly in the agricultural irrigation products sector, which numbers about 100 companies using a range of technologies. Oded Distel, director of  IsraelNEWTech –(Novel Efficient Water Technologies), a national program promoting the Israeli water technology sector.will present Israel's experience in coping with water scarcity problems, incorporating all the separate industry elements in order to advance the sector at an international level. The Israeli government, recognizing the Israeli potential to be a leader in the growing international water technologies market, heavily invested in the program and has allocated substantial resources towards strengthening the foundation of water tech cluster and the promotion of its capabilities worldwide.
 
Distel noted that the annual growth rate of the Israeli water technology sector is 28% compared with the average annual world growth rate of 12%. The difference between Israel's growth rate and the rest of the world show the huge potential in the Israeli sector which, due to high demand, will be an important growth engine of the Israeli economy.
 
WATEC 2009 is being organized by the Israel Trade Fairs and Conventions Center and Kenness Exhibitions. The Exhibition is being held under the auspices of  the Ministries of Trade and Industry, Environmental Protection, Foreign Affairs and National Infrastructures; the Government Water Program – Israel NewTech, headed by Oded Distel; the Export Institute; and the Industrial Research and Development Center.