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Business
at Askimo Studios) was broadcast online on Israel’s Biz Channel.
Over these three intensive days, the delegates met with a multitude of intermedi- aries, entrepreneurs and leading business personas, and some of the opportunities iden- tified have already successfully materialised into business results for the delegates.
Equally important, the delegation has discovered some of the “secret ingredients” that have turned Israel into such an entrepreneurial society.
Such ingredients include:
l the public encouragement to take risks and the education to be entrepreneurial from young age;
l the general acceptance in the business world that some failure is a necessary component to becoming successful - indeed some VCs will NOT invest in an entrepreneur who has never failed before;
l the compulsory military service at the age of 18, which teaches young people discipline, team work, and leadership and gives them a practical path to professional development;
l the absorption of immigration from all
around the world, with the recognition that immigrants are an asset to a country rather than a burden on its economy;
l and finally, the existential threats and challenges that Israel has been faced with from day one of its establishment in 1948. Such challenges have forced the people of Israel to think outside the box, innovate and invent in order to survive.
These ingredients along with various Government support schemes and numerous private initiatives are indeed the secrets to
Israel’s success. Surly there are lessons here for Gibraltar to learn if it wishes to diversify its economy further, and the Gibraltar-Israel Chamber of Commerce will continue to play its role in the exchange of ideas and opportunities between the countries. In fact, the next delegation to Israel is already scheduled for mid - October 2017, with only a few more places left, so anyone who is interested should contact Gibrael Chamber now to secure their place.
www.gibrael.org
www.gibraltarinternational.com
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