Foreign Trade Administration director Ohad Cohen said recently that Israel’s Economy Ministry plans to open more trade attaché offices in Asia, Africa, and South America.
Cohen said that over the past five years, Israel has been expanding trade attaché offices in Asia and Africa at the expense of its presence in Europe, and that this trend will continue in the coming years, in line with the change in Israel's balance of trade.
For the first time, in 2014, Israeli exports with Asia will exceed trade with the US, pushing it from second to third place (behind the EU).
Foreign Trade Administration data show that, in 2013, Asia accounted for 21% of Israel's exports, just behind the US, with 21.6%, after the steady relative decline in US trade since the 2008 economic crisis.
It predicts that the growth in trade with Asia and the decline in trade with the US will continue, and in 2018, Asia will account for 24.5% of Israeli exports and the US will account for 20.3%. Europe, Israel's largest and closest trading partner, will continue to account for 40% of exports.
