Nov – Dec 2016

Led by Peter Schutz, Chairman, Food Innovation Australia, the mission was designed for Food & Agribusiness leaders to engage, collaborate and to learn from Israel’s success as a world leader in Food and Agribusiness innovation and commercialisation.

Israel is recognised for its world leading position in land and water management and sustainability, supply chain and logistics optimisation, support for innovation commercialisation and the sophistication and optimisation of advanced manufacturing processes.

The objective of this mission was to expand collaborative “Farm to Fork” Agribusiness links, to understand Israel’s cluster methodologies & government support policies as well as to appreciate how the strategic integration of university and researcher inputs along the value chain is successfully achieved.

May 2016

The AICC’s inaugural all-women trade mission to Israel was led by prominent businesswomen Lucy Turnbull AO and Jillian Segal AO. The delegation attracted an impressive line-up of 36 high profile female non-executive directors, executive directors, CEOs and chairwomen who came together to learn from Israel’s unique and world-leading innovation eco-system.

The delegation featured University of Queensland’s Dr Jane Wilson, University of Sydney’s Chancellor Belinda Hutchinson, former Chief Information Officer of both Qantas and Telstra, Fiona Balfour, Lisa Sonnabend, COO at Macquarie Capital and Diane Smith-Gander, Chairman at Broadspectrum, to name a few.

As an active champion of gender equality, the AICC is delighted to have been the first Chamber spearheading an all women led trade mission, which the participants described as one of the most memorable business experiences of their lives.

Apr 2016

Led by NSW Premier Mike Baird, this mission was one of the most successful to date bringing together a diverse group of people including NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione, NSW Chief Scientist Mary O’Kane and medical cannabis advocate Lucy Haslam; as well as senior state government and university leaders, key business executives and top entrepreneurs.

The group of more than 22 leaders, including 13 delegates from the NSW Government, came together to experience an unforgettable journey through Israel. Participants gained direct insights into the state of play in Israel, forging a deeper understanding of the ‘Startup Nation’ and how Australia can harness innovation as a nation.

The mission captured the hearts and minds of the Premier and delegates, including Teva Pharma Australia’s Managing Director, John Michailidis, who said, “The program was well thought out and allowed the delegates from all sectors to gain value from meeting with research institutions, universities, innovation incubators, commercial companies and government. Importantly, for me, it also allowed significant contacts to be made with other delegates that would otherwise not have been made.”

NSW Premier Mike Baird thanked and congratulated the AICC and its NSW Chair and trade mission delegate, Jillian Segal, on the successful mission, “Your support, and the support of the Australia Israel Chamber of Commerce, in facilitating the program and bringing together elements of the innovation ecosystem ensured the mission was both enjoyable and a great success. It was inspiring to learn about Israel’s innovation ecosystem and to initiate a number of collaborative projects between Israel and NSW.”