Provence Promotion Returns to Israel

Official mission by the City of Marseilles

From September 4 to 7 2017, Provence Promotion will be in Israel as part of the official delegation led by the City of Marseilles. Accompanied by close to twenty entrepreneurs, start-ups and local government representatives, the economic development agency will visit and attend conferences and B2B meetings in Haifa and Tel Aviv to promote the Provence region while prospecting new business.

Provence and Israel have a long and well-established relationship. The cities of Marseilles and Haifa have had a strong cooperative relationship for almost 60 years now. The delegation's objective is to reinforce communications and broaden their fields of activities around innovation, particularly in the context of the DLD Tel Aviv Innovation Festival.

Israel, nicknamed "start-up nation" and a benchmark for innovation, is the tech hub of the world. Comparable to Silicon Valley, the country attracts a remarkable influx of investments—3 billion euros in 2016—and has the highest ratio of start-ups per capita in the world (one start-up per 1,214 residents). The annual Tel Aviv Innovation Festival is an opportunity to immerse oneself in this entrepreneurial culture, and to discover new Israeli technologies and start-ups from around the world.

The Marseilles delegation is, of course, interested in the digital sector but also in aeronautics, healthcare, and tourism. Eight businesses from the region, including three start-ups from the Aix-Marseille French Tech network—Walkoo, Agrivolta and Geosentinel—will travel to Israel and, together with other companies, present the strong potential for economic growth in the metropolitan area. 

Large projects in the energy sector (Iter), healthcare sector (Marseille Immunopôle), digital sector (thecamp), industrial and mechanical sectors (Piicto and Henri-Fabre) as well as the smart city with Smartseille at the center of Euroméditerranée's, Europe's largest urban eco-project, provide a multitude of business opportunities, which Provence Promotion and the delegation are in charge of promoting.

By getting involved in the digital revolution while targeting sustainable development in both urban centers and in modes of production, the region offers a great lab where start-ups and R&D projects can experiment.

Visits, Presentations and B2B Meetings

Several visits to key sites are planned during this trip: the Matam Technology Park where the world's leading hi-tech companies such as IBM, Microsoft, Google, Intel, and others have R&D facilities,
as well as Technion, the renowned Israel Institute of Technology, a top science and technology research university, the Shalom Tower, Techcode and the Bridge by Coca-Cola. Each of these visits includes meetings, which will help us to better understand the ins and outs of Israel's innovation-based economy.

It is during specific B2B meetings that Provence Promotion and its partners will conduct their prospecting work. A dozen meetings, some with Israeli companies who have identified a development project in France, will allow the agency to present the region's advantages for innovative projects. Marseilles for example is a true telecommunications hub. With close to 20,000 km of underwater cables connecting it to Africa, southern Europe, the Middle East and Asia, it holds a strong position as a digital communications hub in Europe. This will be further emphasized by the Dutch company Interxion during the DLD Forum conference.

The City of Marseilles will also have its own kiosk at the event, thus providing the region with good visibility. To attract new talent and investors, the City of Marseilles, in collaboration with Business France, has organized a special evening on Thursday, September 7. Close to sixty guests have been invited to a conference, at which Provence Promotion will speak and which will be followed by cocktails and the opportunity to network.