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Water

Israel held a first of its kind event in Texas for senior officials, aimed at the promotion of innovative and groundbreaking water technologies.

The Israeli Economic Delegation of the Israeli Ministry of Economy and Industry, based in Houston, Texas, held a first of its kind event on Friday in Austin for some 200 senior officials from the water industry.

The event was dedicated to the promotion of innovative and groundbreaking Israeli water technologies that were developed due to the market demand created by the need to improve and optimize water consumption on both the municipal and state levels.

The event was held directly following the Offshore Technology Conference in Houston, the largest energy exhibition in the world.

Eight leading Israeli water and infrastructure companies presented their groundbreaking products and technologies in various fields of water management.

The conference aimed not only to create a stronger connection between the Israeli and Texas water industries, but also to encourage key government officials and local authorities to participate in the WATEC exhibition, which will take place in Israel in September.

WATEC is one of the largest exhibitions in the world for companies, decision makers, professionals and thought leaders in the water sector. The previous WATEC event in 2015 drew 10,000 participants from 90 countries.

“This is a significant event for the water industry, and the first of its kind in the state of Texas,” noted Shay Luvshis, the new Israel Economic Attaché in Houston. “We are proud to support the Israeli water industry and hope to become the main interface for Israeli-Texan water trade in an effort to promote the successful cooperation between the Israeli Ministry of Economy and Industry and the Ministry of Energy and the leading water industry authorities in Texas.”

Expanding Israel-Texas Relations

Texas and Israel have a long history of working together as valuable partners in the areas of agriculture, medicine, technology, defense, water management, cyber-intelligence and many other areas. Texas-Israel trade now exceeds half a billion dollars per year with numerous missions, signed contracts and mutual development projects.

In March, Texas signed its first-ever trade agreement with Samaria. The agreement, signed by Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, includes an exchange of technologies and expertise in agriculture and water technologies.

“We want to re-establish relations between Texas and Israel, and especially with Samaria, which is such a significant part of the land of Israel. We want to be partners of Israel and Samaria to recreate the brotherhood that was lost in recent years,” Miller said.

Just days before the water conference in Austin, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed into law the Anti-BDS (Boycott, Divestments, and Sanctions) bill, which prohibits all state agencies from contracting with, and certain public funds from investing in, companies that boycott Israel, becoming the 18th US state to support such a law.

By: Max Gelber, United with Israel