PANAJI: In what could be a big shot in the arm for the Goa government the Israeli government has shown its willingness to join hands with it on smart-city and eco-tourism.
Speaking on the sidelines of Israeli ambassador to India Denial Carmon's meeting with Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar and his ministers, Consul General David Akov said that his country had the expertise in these fields and was seeking collaboration with Goa. Carmon is on his first visit to the State.
The Israeli government is also making efforts to come on board with Goa in areas like agriculture and business. “The reason we are here is because Goa offers opportunities to Israel and Israel offers opportunities to Goa,” said Carmon, adding “There is a huge opportunity in the making for Goa and Israel to collaborate. As a part of an initiative with Ministry of Agriculture of Government of India, we have developed centres of excellence in agriculture with our Indian counterparts. 26 such centres have been decided upon in 10 states. 14 of these 26 are operational and bearing fruit, wherein training in technology and best practices in agriculture is imparted to farmers. As of now, Goa is not in the list of states which have such a centre. But, we are talking with Goa government to a create of excellence here as well. As far as we are concerned, we are in advanced stages and waiting for Goa government to take final decision on this.”
Akov has been coming to Goa and meeting stakeholders here for sometime now. Talking specifically about eco-tourism projects, he said, “We have met Rajendra Arlekar, minister for forest and environment. Israel has expertise in marrying the concepts of environment and development and eco-tourism is related to it. We are prepared to bring expertise in this field to Goa.”
Israeli government is also willing to collaborate with Goa on smart-city initiative. Akov added, “We have expertise in solar energy, water recycling for urban and rural areas in Israel, which we are willing to share with Goa.”
