Tag: breakfast club

On April 3, 2018, the Israeli-Palestinian Chamber of Commerce and Industry hosted its annual Breakfast Club gathering. This year we were honored by the visit of former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who was the keynote speaker in the event that was held in the Dan Panorama Hotel in Tel Aviv. Mr. Olmert spoke to the IPCC’s guests about the challenges and opportunities of economic relations with the Palestinians, sharing his well based analysis of past political developments and current political climate.

In the event, along with our partners in the SharakeHTech Project- The Peres Center for Peace and Innovation, the team showcased the main components of the program which is run by the IPCC and funded by the European Union.

Following the speeches, time was given for fruitful discussions on economics, the benefits and challenges of cooperation with the Palestinian side, and an elegant breakfast buffet took place as well

In the occasion of the IPCC Breakfast Club, this year we were honored by the visit of the American Ambassador to Israel, Mr. Shapiro; who attended our event in the David Intercontinental Hotel in Tel Aviv on May 20, 2014. An elegant breakfast buffet took place to receive our guests, with an agreeable time to get to know each other, before the conference commenced.

This event turned around an active discussion on the topic of the economic benefits of peace between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

More than 80 guests (members of the Chamber, multiple supporters, representatives from different relevant organizations in the Israeli-Palestinian field—from One Voice, The Peres Peace Center, Portland Trust, The Israeli Association of Chambers of Commerce, The Israeli Manufacturers Association, and government officials from Ministry of Foreign Affairs, of Economy and of Regional Cooperation, together with prominent businesspeople) composed the public that could appreciate the encouraging words of Mr. Ambassador on the prospects for peace and the meanings of it for both parties to the conflict in economic terms.

Mr. Shapiro repeatedly assessed the large economic growth that a peace agreement would signify for both the Israeli market and the Palestinian one, emphasizing the benefits for the Israeli economy, who are already widely cooperating in various fields at the private sector level. On this aspect, the Ambassador dedicated a few words to congratulate the fruitful work that all organizations are doing in the private sector, on the ground, to advance these trading ties and, overall, economic development, and to build up the adequate environment to initiate the path towards a peace process between Israel and the PA.

On the same note, the Ambassador spoke about the positive prospects of development in various sectors expected in the future, should peace come about in this conflicting region, namely, in agriculture, technology, textile, and renewable energies.

Finally, the Ambassador took several questions from a quite critical public on all relevant issues connected to the topic of the day. Skeptical Israelis raised their worries about the possibility to reach peace in order to achieve economic development, and several other contributions enriched the debate.

Another B2B meeting, organized through cooperation of IPCC, the Peres Center for Peace, the Federation of Chambers of Commerce in Tel Aviv, the Manufacturers Association of Israel and the PalTrade, took place in Tel Aviv on 29 May 2012. Thirty Palestinian food company representatives met with more than fifty Israeli food company representatives and other companies related to food production. Before the joint meeting, the Israeli company representatives enjoyed a variety of presentations from Lieutenant Colonel Salameh Zahar Adin – the head of the economic branch at the Civil Administration – about the economic situation in Judea and Samaria; Mr. Itzhak Gal – a researcher from Tel Aviv University; Mr. Roberto De La Rocca – a manager in the Israeli Super Sal chain; and Mr. Ibrahim Bashir from the Rushdie Food Industry – a senior businessman in the Israeli food industry with strong existing trade with the Palestinian market. All the participants reported that the meeting was very productive and expressed their satisfactions with meetings of this sort.

Israeli-Palestinian Chamber of Commerce and Industry hosted another Breakfast Club Event on 17 April 2012, where keynote speaker and former Israeli minister, Tzahi Hanegbi, spoke about security challenges in the Middle East. In collaboration with Portland Trust, the Peres Center for Peace and the Ministry for Regional Cooperation, the IPCC also launched the Palestinian Business Directory at the meeting. The Palestinian Business Directory is a compilation of business contacts from a large variety of sectors in the West Bank that will enable easier communication between Israeli and Palestinian business counterparts, and facilitate further business engagements and transactions between the two. Seventy participants were present at this event.

IPCC Breakfast Club event in Dan Panorama Tel Aviv with Major General Amos Yadlin, IDF head of Intelligence.

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