New York Stock Exchange celebrates its fifth annual Israel Day.
By JORDANA HORNNew York Stock Exchange NYSE 311 R(photo credit: ERIC THAYER / Reuters)
NEW YORK – The New York Stock Exchange celebrated its fifth annual Israel Day on Tuesday by hosting a conference on Israeli business innovators and start-up industries.Leaders from the America-Israel Friendship League – along with a delegation of Israeli and American chief executive officers – rang the market’s opening bell Tuesday, signifying the beginning of the trading day.RELATED:German-Iranian business forum sparks outrageAttendees included Israel-America Chamber of Commerce chairwoman Ofra Strauss and Tel Aviv Stock Exchange CEO Ester Levanon. AIFL chairman Kenneth Bialkin and former Israeli ambassador to the UN Dan Gillerman led the event.
The Israeli presence on the American financial scene is significant. The total market capitalization of the 14 Israeli companies listed on NYSE Euronext markets is approximately $11.4 billion.The day’s conference, titled “A Partnership of Business Innovation,” featured speakers including Strauss, Israeli Ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor and Israeli Consul-General Ido Aharoni.Roundtable sessions at the end of the day focused on showing that Israel can be a good partner for American businesses both to increase exports and create jobs.Tamar Guy, CEO of the Israeli-American Chamber of Commerce, noted that this particular conference is different from all other conferences in that where other meetings are highly specialized, this one is deliberately broad. This is in order to serve as a cross-section of the variety of opportunities available to cross-border investors.“The thing we’re trying to show is that partnership and innovation are beneficial to both Israelis and Americans,” Guy said. “One of the best places to create jobs in the US is through innovation, and the best source for innovation is, naturally, Israel.”
