A Forum for Cooperation to Be Created
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who is credited with turning Israel into a startup powerhouse, attended the Israel Day Event of the Asia Blockchain & Fintech (ABF) in Seoul on October 29. In the event, Olmert stressed that Israel will go ahead with collaboration with Korea and increase its investment.
Olmert promoted the establishment of startups in Israel by actively supporting them and attracting investment in them. Olmert has not stopped investing in startups even after his retirement as prime minister. He is chairing a startup investment fund named “Genesis Angels.” Yozma Fund, a leading investment fund in Israel, also set up a corporation in Singapore for the development of blockchain technology and established a 70-billion-won fund.
The Israeli Day Event was held to create a forum for cooperation between companies from Israel and Korea. Particularly, the event focused on cooperation in the field of blockchain. "A strong enterprising spirit empowered Israel to succeed as a startup powerhouse. An enterprising spirit is as important as anything else in the field of blockchain, I think," said Lee Won-jae, head of Yozma Group Asia. “I believe that Korea and Israel will be able to lead the global blockchain market hand in hand via joint technology research and commercialization projects."
"One of the secrets behind Israel's success in the startup sector is a streamlined networking culture," Lee said. "We will discover excellent blockchain projects in Korea and push forward with cooperation with Israeli companies and support Korean blockchain companies so that they can make a foray into overseas markets. We are looking forward to seeing a forum for building networks created through Israel Day."
“Among the 50 major companies in the world, the only companies that use resources are GE and GM. The remaining 48 companies realized innovation with small imaginations,” said Yoon Jong-rok, a chair-professor at Gachon University who served as a vice minister of science and ICT. “Innovation begins from small imaginations. A software capability is more required than a hardware capability in realizing innovation. Israel has shown how to turn a hardware-centric country into a software powerhouse over the last 20 years."