Business Mission Promotes Ontario’s Tech and Financial Sectors

Premier Kathleen Wynne met with Israeli business and technology leaders today to strengthen ties, encourage new investments in Ontario and lay the foundations for future collaboration in areas of common interest, including cybersecurity, financial services, and information and communications technology (ICT).

Premier Wynne delivered a keynote speech to Israeli economic leaders in Tel Aviv, where she promoted Ontario’s competitive business climate and encouraged Israeli businesses to invest in the province.

The Premier also spoke with technology experts, startups and venture capitalists at a MaRS-CyberTech cybersecurity event in Tel Aviv to showcase Ontario’s leadership in innovation, ICT and cybersecurity, and encourage potential investors to work with Ontario companies on their next technological breakthroughs.

Premier Wynne met with executives from the ICT sector to promote Ontario’s strong culture of innovation, world-class research institutions and dynamic business environment. The Premier met with Dino Trevisani, President of IBM Canada, and Rick Kaplan, Country General Manager at IBM Israel. The two IBM entities signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to form a strategic collaboration in the areas of innovation and commercialization, for the benefit of their startup and scale-up clients.

The Premier also met with executives from Thomson Reuters to discuss their Open Calais platform and Ontario’s leadership in developing new and emerging disruptive technologies.

The Premier and Canada’s Ambassador to Israel, Vivian Bercovici, spoke at a networking event in Tel Aviv this afternoon to support the International Women’s Forum. The Premier shared her thoughts on advancing leadership around the world through gender equality and the positive outcomes that occur when women have equal representation in politics and business.

“Connecting business leaders, innovators and potential investors in Israel will help pave the way for future agreements and investments, which will generate economic growth and jobs in Ontario for years to come,” Wynne said. Yesterday, the Premier attended a signing ceremony at Tel Aviv University, where Ontario universities signed two new MOUs:

• McMaster University signed an MOU with Tel Aviv University to create better opportunities for students and faculty through joint supervision of doctorate students and new internship opportunities.
• York University and Tel Aviv University signed an MOU to renew a five-year agreement to provide students with richer educational opportunities, including collaboration on seminars, research projects and conferences.

Strengthening international relationships and helping businesses compete globally are part of the government’s economic plan to build Ontario up and deliver on its number-one priority to grow the economy and create jobs.