Swiss companies are worried: Hamas’ attack threatens Israel’s founding miracle

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The conflict between Israel and Hamas also shakes Swiss business representatives. They see the Israeli economy as a rapidly growing sales market with a population willing to consume. The promise of a future that now threatens to descend into pain and violence.

Israel has recently become a valuable trading partner; Last year the trade volume reached 1.85 billion francs. Switzerland exported goods worth 1.2 billion francs to Israel. This puts Israel among the top 35 export destinations. This is a proud figure for a country outside Europe with almost the same population as Switzerland.

Start-up leader Israel

Switzerland Global Enterprise, which supports Swiss SMEs with exports, states that Israel has a “thriving innovation ecosystem” and is a “world leader in establishing start-ups.” In fact, according to figures from the German-Israeli Chamber of Commerce and Industry, there are at least 8,000 start-ups in Israel. This is the highest starting density in the world. According to the German start-up association, 12 percent of Israel’s population works in the high-tech industry.

Swiss SMEs are also benefiting from this wave of innovation and have worked diligently on collaborations with Israel in recent years. According to the Switzerland-Israel Chamber of Commerce, there are close relations between the two countries, especially in the fields of medical technology, advanced technology, food technology, cybercrime and the arms industry.

Migros works with many Israeli start-ups in the food sector, for example. The retailer, in collaboration with startup Aleph Farms, recently submitted an application for approval of lab meat.

As part of the innovation funding agency Innosuisse, the federal government even supports a startup exchange program focused specifically on Israel. For a week, Swiss start-up founders receive training from their Israeli colleagues. The next visit is planned for April 2024.

Swiss economy slightly affected

However, it seems unlikely that Swiss companies will experience a major disruption or even interruption in production. When the Swiss-Israeli Chamber of Commerce asked, they had almost no production facilities in Israel.

Since the majority of cooperation between Swiss and Israeli companies takes place in digital industries, cooperation was not much affected by the outbreak of war. The organization does not expect any delivery bottlenecks due to the conflict.

Concerns about the Israeli economy are not entirely new. The Israeli start-up sector has already been hit hard by the recent crisis in the global technology industry. The outbreak of war dealt another blow to the innovative economy. When necessary, Swiss companies can switch to trading partners in other countries. But Israel’s proud fledgling economy risks suffocating in the stifling atmosphere of conflict.

Source :Blick