It is now reported that Asia will overtake the USA and become the second biggest trading partner for Israel in this year. Initiatives such as the one outlined below are leading more and more businessmen to develop trade ties with Asia.
Vijeta Uniyal April
6, 2014,
Vijeta Uniyal is an Indian-born Entrepreneur living in Germany. He
is Contributing Editor to The Commentator and Fellow at Lawfare
Since the dawn of time, Jews and Indians have traded with each
other. The ancient Jewish scriptures describe how once every three years the merchant fleet of Tarshish came back laden with gold, silver,
ivory and exotic animals during the reign of King Solomon. Modern linguistic evidence points to India as the destination of
these voyages. For centuries Jewish merchants and communities were welcomed on
Indian shores. In 10th Century C.E. a powerful South Indian King even
granted special privileges to Jewish trading community of the port city of Cochin
– comparable with modern day tax exemption and free-trade zone.
It was therefore but natural that, when India formalized her
relations with the Jewish State in 1991, Indians and Israelis started to trade
– as if they were making up for the lost centuries – taking the bilateral trade
from $200 million in 2001, to over $6 billion in 2013. As steady but irreversible
market reforms unfetter India’s entrepreneurial potential, young Indians look
more and more towards the Start-Up Nation for inspiration and collaboration.
In the wake of economic boom in sectors like IT, Telecom, Pharma
and Bio-Technology – India did see increase in number of women
employed in new sectors of economy. However, women continue to face
serious challenges in rising up to leadership positions in Corporate India.
Now an Israeli initiative wants to give Indian women entrepreneurs
the tools to break through these glass ceilings and acquire world-class
leadership skills. The Bonita Trust, The Israel Asia Center,
and Sofaer
International MBA at Tel Aviv University have joined hands to offer
a scholarship program specially tailored for Indian women
entrepreneurs.
The scholarship offers a unique opportunity to women
entrepreneurs, by covering full tuition fee at Tel Aviv University’s
International MBA program and participation in the prestigious Israel-Asia Leaders Fellowship, along with a chance of getting
seed funding for an Israel-India venture after successful completion of the
program.
According to Rebecca Zeffert, Founder
and Executive Director of the Israel-Asia Center, “This (scholarship)
is a fantastic opportunity for a young Indian female entrepreneur to develop
and receive support for her own Israel-India venture in the ‘Start-Up Nation’,
to meet business and government leaders, acquire valuable leadership and
business skills, and tap into and build partnerships with one of the world’s
leading and most exciting hubs for innovation and technology.”
In keeping with the expectations of the Indian and Asian students,
who still value well-structured and demanding curricula, Sofaer
International MBA offers a rigorous core curriculum, but in
addition to that, also allows participants be creative and choose from a
wide-range of elective courses, offering greater control in shaping the program
to fit individual career needs. Israel-Asia Leaders Fellowship Program adds to this management
training experience by providing the right contacts, skills-sets and support
network to build partnerships with Israel in their chosen field. Aimed at
build leadership, the program gives fellows opportunities to speak at
notable events and write for domestic and international media.
For the new generation of budding Indian women entrepreneurs
rearing up to take on the challenges of Corporate India and break through the
glass ceiling, this experience won’t just change their lives, but holds a
greater promise of transforming mind-sets and breaking news grounds in India.
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