That was the message trumpeted from the stage at the Toronto Board of Trade recently, where the revived Canada-Israel Chamber of Commerce (CICC) hosted an event called Israel’s Entrepeneurial Spirit.

The event, which attracted about 100 participants – almost exclusively from Toronto’s business community – featured presentations about the Israeli economy and two sample investment opportunities in the Jewish state. Also presented was an Investors Club, which will further facilitate Israeli investment opportunities.

Uriel Lynn, president of the Israeli Chamber of Commerce, set the tone for the evening with a glowing assessment of the current state of Israel’s economy.

“We have to get used to a completely new reality,” Lynn said, pointing to the newfound strength of Israel’s currency, the shekel, as the most obvious example of the country’s economic heft.

Lynn listed a plethora of positive economic indicators: A growing local market that now comprises 7.3 million people, almost as large as Austria’s; a high-tech industry that is responsible for 48 per cent of the export market for Israel-manufactured goods; “impressive” growth in “old economy” sectors; a medicare system that is “one of the best in the world”; GDP growth, and a decrease in unemployment.
And all this has been achieved, Lynn stressed, while maintaining stability in areas such as inflation.

According to the veteran lawyer and businessman, the secret to Israel’s recent windfall lies in the economic reforms ushered in by Benjamin Netanyahu in 2003. As finance minister, Netanyahu reduced state expenditures and taxes on both corporations and individuals. His reforms also increased competition by minimizing monopolies and privatizing government-owned companies – most notably the national airline, El Al, but also other companies such as oil refineries.

For Amir Gissin, Israel’s consul general in Toronto, there is much more to Israel’s economic success than dry theory.
“How are Israelis when we are at our best?” That was the question he and other leaders asked when they sat down to mold a branding strategy for Israel – one that they hoped would overcome Israel’s current bad-news image as a conflict destination.

Their answer?

Passionate. Creative. Fusion.

In short, all the elements out of which entrepeneurship is born.

Whether the cause is the Israeli pioneering spirit or simple economic nuts and bolts, numerous multinational companies are investing in Israel, from Intel and IBM to Microsoft and Siemens and from JP Morgan to CIBC.

Most famously, Israel achieved a coup in 2006 when noted billionaire investor Warren Buffett jumped on the bandwagon.
“Israel has amazing people. We are investing $4 billion in an amazing group of people from Israel – and we are investing it at an astounding speed,” he said at the time.

The purchase of an 80 per cent stake in Iscar Metalworking Cos. is the largest investment that Buffett has ever made outside the US.
While many foreign – especially American – companies have invested heavily in Israel, Lynn also emphasized companies that were born and bred in Israel.

Teva, for example, is an Israeli pharmaceutical company that boasted $9.4 billion in sales in 2007 and employed 28,000 people. Lynn also pointed to Check Point Software, a leader in internet security; Strauss Group, a manufacturer of foodstuffs, and Keter Group, a leader in plastics manufacturing as other Israeli success stories.

As well, he said, Israel is the second-largest participant on the NASDAQ stock market after the US. “And this is not per capita,” he hastened to add.

The CICC relaunched in May 2006 after a seven-year hiatus. Currently seeking to grow its membership, its goal, according to the organization’s president, David Rubin of Gowlings law firm, is “to promote beneficial opportunities between Canada and Israel.”

According to veteran entrepeneur Ron Yekutiel, the organization’s executive vice-president, these should be heady times for the CICC, with bilateral and political relationships between the two countries “in a very good place,” Israel’s healthy financial picture and the advent of the internet and its ability to foster connections between business partners.

He expects the organization “to be ongoing and successful.” Its web site will be revamped in the coming weeks to better reflect the services it offers.

While it is a non-profit organization, Yekutiel eschews the “charity” label.

“Don’t give us money,” he said. “Make money.”