New Academic Cooperation Program with India & China

The programs aim to attract researchers and students from those two countries to Israel’s research institutions
 
Minister of Finance, Dr. Yuval Steinetz, and Minister of Education and Head of the Council for Higher Education, Mr. Gideon Saar, today launched programs designed to boost research cooperation with India and China. The programs aim to attract researchers and students from those two countries to Israel’s research institutions. The programs form part of a broad-gauge initiative being formulated by the Israeli government with a view to strengthening economic ties with India and China. The programs will provide fertile soil for future cooperative ventures in research and economics.
 
The event was attended by Deputy Minister of Finance, Rabbi Yitzchak Cohen;  Acting Director-General of the Ministry of Finance, Acc. Doron Cohen; Deputy Director of the Budget Department, Mr. Yonatan Regev; Head of International Affairs Department, Mr. Oded Brook; Director-General of the Academic Administration Council for Higher Education (CHE) & Planning and Budgeting Committee (PBC), Mr. Moshe Vigdor. China was represented at the event by the Chinese Ambassadress to Israel, Ms. GAO Yanping, and India by the Indian Ambassador to Israel, Mr. Natej Sarna.
 
The first program to be launched today - for attracting post-doctorate students – is meant to bring about a strengthening of the research ties with India and China by attracting outstanding researchers to Israel while exposing them to research capabilities in Israel and creating bonds with leading Israeli researchers. This program will be put into effect both in the universities and in the Volcani Institute of Agricultural Research.
 
The second program – for attracting students – is designed to draw hundreds of outstanding students to study in universities in Israel in combined programs with Israeli students and also to integrate them into extra-academic programs enabling them to familiarize themselves with the country. These students will remain in Israel for a relatively long period of time, a fact which is expected to increase their exposure to what is happening in the country, making them “ambassadors” for Israel on their return home.
 
As part of these programs, scholarships will be awarded to hundreds of students and researchers who will come from China and India to the research universities and to the Volcani Institute. All this activity will be financed by an overall budgetary allocation of up to some NIS 44 million per annum.
 
Over and above these programs efforts are presently being made to promote joint research between Israel and India and China. Further to which, teams are working to work out a final outline for cooperation between the Israel Science Foundation (ISF)  and the Chinese Research Foundation (NSFC) and joint work is in progress between teams of the governments of Israel and India in order to create a framework for financing joint research projects between researchers of the two countries.
 
China and India are two of the most outstanding economies in the international landscape and are enjoying impressive growth rates and almost unprecedented economic development, while their importance and centrality from all economic aspects and points of view is increasing steadily and is expected to continue outstanding in the future. In light of these facts, the government of Israel ascribes strategic importance to the strengthening of the economic, commercial and academic ties with these countries.