Likud's Ofir Akunis plans international tech expo for Israel’s 75th

Israel is set to host dozens of science ministers from around the world this year to celebrate 75 years of Israeli innovation, Science and Innovation Minister Ofir Akunis said on Sunday.

Akunis welcomed 23 ministers to Jerusalem in his previous term in the role five years ago for a science policy conference and to mark Israel’s 70th year, and he hopes to beat that number in October, when the new conference is expected to take place.

“We will display Israel’s strength and achievements as a groundbreaking country in the areas of science, technology and innovation to the ministers and the delegations from all over the world,” he said. “There are few countries in the world, certainly not ones Israel’s size, that reached similar achievements in 75 years of independence.”

Akunis said the conference will also send a political message to the international community and investors in Israel, in light of criticisms of the government in recent months: “Israeli democracy is not in danger. It is strong and stable. Continue investing here and be a partner to unprecedented breakthroughs in every area.”

Israeli innovation exhibition

This year’s conference will feature a large exhibition on Israeli innovation, in the style of the World Expo. Akunis expressed hope that he can feature 75 different exhibits, for each year since Israel’s establishment.

The exhibition will initially be for the foreign government delegations, and then be open to the Israeli public.

Akunis plans to invite the Arab countries with which Israel established relations in the years since the previous conference: the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco.

The three-day conference in 2018 had ministers of 23 countries in attendance, in addition to lower-level delegations from more countries. At the time, it broke the record for most ministers from foreign countries attending an event.