By DIANE KOVEN, Ottawa Correspondent (CJN)
OTTAWA ? Israel's Minister of Finance Yuval Steinitz recently had an opportunity to spread Israel's economic message to Canadian government and business leaders.
Yuval Steinitz, left, and Jim Flaherty
[Peter Waiser photo]
In Ottawa earlier this month during a North American tour, Steinitz, who had previously met Canada's Finance Minister Jim Flaherty in Israel, met with other government ministers as well as
Opposition Leader Michael Ignatieff.
Steinitz "was astounded by the pro-Israel voices amongst the ministers he met with," said Jacques Shore, national vice-president of the Canada-Israel Chamber of Commerce, who was among the
business and community leaders at a reception for Steinitz held at the residence of Israel's ambassador to Canada, Miriam Ziv.
Steinitz was "able to convey the message of a strong and vibrant economy against a backdrop of living in a difficult neighbourhood." Shore said. "He did extremely well in sharing information
about the buoyancy in Israel's economy' His mission here was to be able to express this message, to extol the virtues of doing business in Israel and to seek new partners in Israel."
In addition to Flaherty and Ignatieff, Steinitz met with Rona Ambrose, minister of public works; Treasury Board head Stockwell Day; Peter Kent, minister of state for foreign affairs (Americas);
Jason Kenney, minister of immigration; and Vic Toews, minister of public safety. He shared with them details of how Israel has fared during the global economic slowdown and the country's
optimistic outlook as its economy is improving. Israel's well-known successes in the high-tech and biotechnology industries were also topics of discussion.
At a press conference following his meetings, Steinitz outlined some of the measures Israel has instituted to help weather the recent economic storms.
"The crisis is not yet over, but we feel we will cross the economic crisis without too much damage. We came out with a' taxation plan. We raised taxes, but made a seven-year commitment to reduce
taxes. This will give us some kind of an advantage, as we did the opposite of most countries," he said.
"We think we are on the eve of significant economic growth, focused mainly on promoting high-tech industries and biotechnology, advanced agriculture devices, satellites and many other things. We
think we should promote co-operation with Canadian companies."
At an earlier business roundtable, Steinitz met with representatives of various companies including MDS Nordian, which specializes in molecular medicine; wireless solutions company Belair
Networks; and management-consulting firm Cyrus Echo.
Steinitz was pleased by the warmth and intensity of friendship demonstrated by government ministers, said Shimon Fogel, CEO of the Canada-Israel Committee.
On his return to Israel, "he carried that message back to his colleagues at a cabinet meeting. I think it will be a catalyst for a real exponential increase in bilateral partnerships," Fogel
said.
