Sacramento, CA – The government of Israel and the state of California have signed an agreement to fund joint research and development (R&D) projects in a variety of fields including bio-medicine and technology.

According to the agreement, which will be carried out by MATIMOP – the executive agency of Israel’s Office of the Chief Scientist (OCS) – along with the appropriate bodies in the US, companies from Israel and California will receive financial assistance for joint R&D projects in a variety of fields.

The agreement, initiated by the OCS and the Head of Israel’s Economic and Trade Mission to the West Coast, is modeled on similar agreements between Israel and a number of US states.

Under its terms, requests for proposals will be issued in the coming weeks inviting companies from Israel and California to submit joint bids for R&D projects.

According to the Israeli Foreign Trade Administration, California is one of the key target states for Israeli companies active in the US. The agreement is a component of the mutual economic development pact signed between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and California Governor Jerry Brown in March.”

The R&D agreement was signed at the recent Bio Conference in San Diego, which was attended by a delegation of 17 Israel biomed companies chosen by the Office of the Chief Scientist, MATIMOP, the Israel Advanced Technologies Industries (IATI), and the Israel Foreign Trade Administration.

06/27/2014