On October 13, U.S. and Israeli officials convened in Washington for the 30th anniversary session of the U.S. - Israel Joint Economic Development Group (JEDG), the annual senior-level economic policy dialogue between the two countries.
Participants recognized the remarkable progress in the bilateral economic relationship over the past three decades and pledged to continue expanding and deepening policy coordination and cooperation across a broad range of sectors.
The meeting highlighted the 30th anniversary of the U.S.-Israel Free Trade Agreement (FTA), the first free trade agreement signed by the United States. Since the signing of the FTA, two-way trade between the United States and Israel has increased from $4.6 billion in 1986 to $38 billion in 2014.
Approximately 50 senior U.S. and Israeli economic policy officials participated and discussed fiscal and monetary policy and macroeconomic developments, as well as digital transformation in government services, science and technology collaboration, innovations in health cooperation, and trade issues.
This year’s JEDG included outcomes in several fields of collaboration and mutual learning. A panel, the first of its kind for the JEDG, was held on digital transformation in the public sector, tackling shared challenges such as talent recruitment and innovative methods of digital procurement.
