Israel Active

Israeli start-up CupsTelAviv has a unique deal – all the coffee you can drink, from any of over 40 coffee shops in Tel Aviv. All for NIS 169 per month (about $45). I’ll drink to that.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has reported that between 2010 and 2014, Israeli employment rose 13% compared to the OECD average of 2%. The employment rate for Israeli women was 6.5% higher than the OECD average.

The General Assembly of the Federation of European Securities Exchanges (FESE) unanimously approved the application of Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) to become an Affiliate member. FESE has 21 Full members, 20 Affiliates and two Observer members.

Jon Medved, CEO of Israel’s OurCrowd is extremely bullish about the financial resilience of Israel’s economy during the current fighting against Hamas terrorists.

A Chinese delegation, headed by Ren Zhiwu - deputy director-general of the High-Tech Industry Department of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) - arrived in Israel, the first time the high-level government team has come to Israel.

Trade between Vietnam and Israel increased significantly during the first half of this year, reaching US$426 million or increasing 53 per cent year-on-year.

Israeli start-up “Cups” is expanding its virtually unlimited coffee supply to New York. Using Cups app, individuals pay a fixed rate of $45 dollars a month to receive a coffee of their choice at participating shops every half hour. Or $27 dollars a month buys one coffee per day.

Forbes magazine has listed 25 Israeli startups to keep your eye on in 2014. It says that Kaltura is most likely to be “one of the next billion-dollar exits” thanks to its wide-ranging video solutions platform. It also likes Petbnb, which pairs traveling pet owners with caretakers for their pets.

Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Toshimitsu Motegi has signed an industrial research and development collaboration agreement with Israel’s Minister of Economy Naftali Bennett. Israel is the first country with which Japan has signed such an agreement.

Egypt’s Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Sherif Ismail does not mind allowing British BG Group to import gas from Israel. “Whatever is in Egypt’s interest must be implemented immediately as we are dealing with an energy crisis,” the minister said.