More than 80 U.S. and Israeli officials gathered at the U.S. Department of State to participate in the 34th meeting of the U.S.-Israel Joint Economic Development Group (JEDG), the annual economic policy dialogue between the two nations first held in 1985.
Both sides seemed to express satisfaction with the trajectory of bilateral economic relations and underscored respective commitments to expanding and deepening policy coordination and cooperation across a broad range of sectors, according to a statement from the U.S. Treasury Department.
This year’s agenda covered risk management for foreign investments; women’s economic empowerment; quantum information science and artificial-intelligence research collaboration; exploration of technological innovations in public transportation; and the role of government in encouraging private-sector investments for more sustainable-development outcomes.
Israel’s Higher Education Council and U.S. Department of Energy officials began discussions about possibly conducting joint research collaboration at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Illinois.
Additionally, Israeli Finance Ministry and the U.S. Treasury officials reviewed regulatory considerations and opportunities for investment cooperation in the financial-tech sector.
The Israeli JEDG delegation was headed by director general of the Israeli Finance Ministry Shai Babad.
It included Israeli Ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer, Governor of the Bank of Israel Amir Yaron and Chief Economist Shira Greenberg, in addition to officials from the Jewish state’s ministries of finance, transportation, foreign affairs, Israel Tax Authority, Israel’s High Education Council and academics from Bar-Ilan University.
U.S. Treasury Under Secretary for International Affairs Brent McIntosh headed the American delegation, which included Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Tom Feddo, Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Seth Appleton, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Joel Rayburn and other officials from the State, Treasury, Housing and Urban Development, Energy and Transportation Departments, as well as the U.S. Agency for International Development, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
