India-Israel bilateral trade likely to reach USD 4 bn this year

Mumbai: The trade between India and Israel is likely to reach USD 4 billion in 2021, Sagi Itcher Economic Consul, Head of Economic and Trade Mission, Israel, said.

"For 2020, it (bilateral trade between the two countries) was almost USD 3.4 billion. In 2021, I am assuming it will be around USD 4 billion," Itcher said on Wednesday.

He, however, said the exact number will be known once the year ends.

Itcher was speaking on the sidelines of an event organised by the Ministry of Economy and Industry, Foreign Trade Administration and Economic and Trade Mission, Israel and CII.

According to him, both the countries would like to see the trade relationship evolve and grow even bigger, and there is a lot of potential for it.

One of the areas where the two countries can strengthen cooperation is financial technology, Itcher noted.

He said India has a huge number of digital payments and there is an also insurance industry, which is evolving every day.

"Insurance companies need to manage a lot of data and Israel companies can come very handy on that." The traditional sectors where both the countries are working together include cyber security, water, agriculture, medical device and medical care.

Going forward, the two countries can jointly work on cleantech, renewal energy and food tech, he said.

The volume of India's investments into Israel is very low, and there is a lot of scope for improvement, Itcher added.

He said Israel is strong on the technology front and suggested that Indian companies can adopt them.

Indian companies can procure Israeli technologies and shape them to their needs and standards from day one, Itcher noted