The President of Catalonia was joined by both regional and local elected officials, including the Minister of Economy and Knowledge, Andreu Mas-Colell, and the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, as well as the Mayor of Barcelona, Xavier Trias. Mr. Mas was also joined by representatives from ACCIÓ, the Catalan agency for international trade and investment, representatives from thirty Catalan businesses in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector, and directors of several of the top research institutions in Catalonia.
With an emphasis on fostering R&D collaboration between the two governments, and learning about the successful model for start-ups in Israel, Mr. Mas and his delegation met with a diverse group of businesses, visited a start-up "incubator," and spoke with key Israeli government officials. During a press conference shortly after arriving in the host country, Mr. Mas set a clear tone for the delegation's mission: "to learn from a country that is truly great in terms of technology, innovation, knowledge, and science."
Travelling with the Mayor of BarcelonaThis is the first time that President Mas has travelled abroad alongside Mayor Xavier Trias of Barcelona, the capital city and economic center of Catalonia. The two elected officials decided to jointly participate in the trip to Israel in order to "reinforce the link between Catalonia and its capital city," particularly in international affairs. "Barcelona today has a world-class level of international recognition … and we would like to harness this recognition to support Catalonia abroad," said Mr. Mas.
Mayor Trias has also affirmed his enthusiasm for the trip, both in terms of what Barcelona may be able to learn from Israel, as well as what the economic and cultural powerhouse of Barcelona may have to offer to Israel and its principal cities. (While Israel has a slightly larger population than Catalonia, the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, the largest in the country, is only 60% the size of the Barcelona metropolitan area.) "We come to Israel with high hopes to learn, but also with a certain measure of pride in what we, and Barcelona, can offer: its Metropolitan Area, its close relationships with Catalonia, and the strategic investments we have made by turning it into a Mobile Smart City and leading the SmartCities movement."
Strengthening R&D in Catalonia and IsraelThe principal goal of Mr. Mas's visit was to seek new avenues for international collaboration between Catalan and Israeli technology firms, and to increase Israeli investments in Catalonia's world-renowned R&D sector. This sector has grown rapidly over the last several decades due to the Government of Catalonia and the City Council of Barcelona's intense efforts to transform it into a powerful engine for the regional economy. Catalonia, according to Presidet Mas, has taken "giant steps forward" in this field during the last 15 years, and has positioned itself "as an area of Europe that is firmly established in the fields of research and scientific output."
Catalonia is home to two of the top three ranked institutions in the world in the fields of Physics and Astronomy: the Institute for Photonic Sciences (IFCO) in first place, and the Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA) in third. Catalonia receives more research grants per capita from the European Research Council than every other region in Europe except Holland, and Barcelona houses the top-ranked university in Spain, the Universitat Pompeu Fabra. The region is also routinely recognized for its scientific discoveries of worldwide import. Take for example the recent unveiling of a 5-mm cube-shaped antenna for cellphones manufactured by Barcelona-based Fractus S.A. (a spin-off from the Polytechnic University of Barcelona, ranked 18th worldwide in Physics and Astronomy), or the IFCO's breakthrough development of a thin, flexible, and transparent solar cell that may one day allow windows to generate electricity.
During his visit to Israel, President Mas was able to draw upon the successful experiences of Catalonia's R&D sector in suggesting what Catalonia may be able to offer to Israel. In particular, he underlined that "Catalonia can offer, as a partner, the best R&D outcomes [in the world]." While Catalonia and Israel are both responsible for 1% of all global scientific publications, scientists comprise a mere 0.3% of the Catalan population, versus the 0.5% they represent in Israel.
In order to connect Catalonia's well-established, if young, R&D sector with new opportunities for further growth and development, President Mas signed three collaborative agreements during the official trip: a formal accord with the Weizmann Institute of Science, a world leader in multidisciplinary research; another with the University of Tel Aviv; and a letter of intent with Matimop, the government agency responsible for managing international cooperation in the high-tech sector. President Mas views this round of agreements as the final step in "closing the triangle of [international] collaboration in areas like research, science, and innovation which began last year with [an official visit to] Massachusetts."
Visiting BusinessesPresident Mas and his delegation visited two multinational companies during their trip to Israel. The first visit, to the Israeli headquarters of the North-American Cisco Systems, was made in order to form a better understanding of the system Cisco has implemented locally to support innovation and collaboration between start-ups and its Israeli R&D center in Netanya. The Cisco model was of great interest to President Mas because Catalonia's 4,000 multinational firms (among them, other technology giants such as IBM and Hewlett-Packard) have yet to achieve such a high level of collaboration with start-ups and other small businesses. Cisco has also recently held its first Internet of Things World Forum in Barcelona.
The delegation's other visit was to The Dead Sea Works, a sister company of the Catalan firm Iberpotash. Both are owned by the Israeli firm ICL Fertilizers which, as President Mas noted, "makes investments of hundreds of millions of Euros in the middle of Catalonia."
Incubating Start-upsPresident Mas's official trip also included a focus on Israel's highly active start-up sector. To better understand Israel's successful model for start-ups, the delegation paid a visit to The Time, one of the "business incubators" sponsored by the Ministry of Economy's Technological Incubator Program. This incubator focuses on supporting technology start-ups in the fields of Telecom, Internet, Media and Entertainment (T.I.M.E.), which gives the organization its name. Mr. Mas was impressed by the Israeli model as exemplified by The Time, remarking that "this is why we came to Israel: to learn how it is being done here, and to apply that to our ways of doings things [in Catalonia]."
Catalonia helps to finance start-ups through universities but Israel, Mr. Mas said, "has the whole process organized as a well-oiled system that present throughout the entirety of the country – and that is something that we are missing [in Catalonia]." To emphasize the success of the Israeli model, he pointed out that Israel "can create 500 new companies focused on innovation while we in Catalonia, with our 25 companies, are a long way off."
During a meeting with the press during his visit, President Mas announced that the Government of Catalonia will increase the rate of income tax deduction offered to start-up investors from 30% to 50%, with a maximum deduction of €12,000, in order to augment private-sector support for start-ups in Catalonia. "The challenge for Catalonia is increasing the number of these types of businesses," Mr. Mas concluded.
Meetings with Government OfficialsAs part of his official visit, President Mas also met with the President of Israel, Shimon Peres, and the Minister of Finance, Yair Lapid, who is also responsible for government policies in the fields of science and innovation. Mr. Mas expressed his hopes that these government contacts "will allow us to increase Israel's understanding of [current events in] Catalonia, to extend our resources to Israel, and to reinforce the bonds of friendship between our two nations."
While speaking with President Peres, President Mas was also able explain Catalonia's goal for a referendum on self-determination: "a stronger Europe, that will be capable of making decisions at the highest level" and "expanded competencies, greater self-government, and more sovereignty" for Catalonia. He stressed that this expansion of self-government will be vital to responding effectively "to the issues that affect Catalan citizens' day-to-day lives," such as health, education, social services, regional infrastructure, public transportation, housing, and culture.
President Peres also expressed strong interest in the GSMA Mobile World Congress based between 2012 and 2018 in the "Mobile World Capital" of Barcelona. "We were able to convey to him the full significance of this event [both for Barcelona and for Catalonia]," Mr. Mas said, "the opportunity for international exposure, the large numbers of visitors that come to Catalonia for this event from all corners of the world, and the chance to highlight the cutting-edge technology sector that Barcelona and Catalonia are trying to emphasize in a particular way."
A Message of PeaceOn the second-to-last day of his visit, President Mas was able to visit two of the most important historical sites in Israel: the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial , which houses the Holocaust History Museum, and the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem.
President Mas described his visit to the Holocaust Museum as the "most emotional moment" of his visit to Israel, noting that "when you see it, you realize the extreme violence that Jewish people have suffered." Mr. Mas also visited the Memorial's Hall of Remembrance, and left a wreath of flowers, along with his presidential insignia, as tokens of respect for the victims of the Holocaust. He also mentioned that every day, when he goes to work at the Palau de la Generalitat "wearing this insignia, which has represented the Generalitat since its founding in the Middle Ages," he remembers that he is entering "a building that was built in the Jewish District of Barcelona."
Before visiting the Holocaust Memorial, President Mas also visited the Wailing Wall (or Western Wall) beside the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. As is tradition, Mr. Mas took a private minute with the wall to leave a special message. When queried by the press as to its contents, he responded that "normally people do not comment on these things," but revealed that his message was "based in what Pau Casals at the United Nations, in which there were two clear concepts: one was Catalonia; the other was peace."
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