Bilateral trade between India and Israel is poised to touch $5 billion annually by 2008, Israeli Ambassador to India David Danieli has said.

"India and Israel are coming closer in trade and commerce and India has emerged as Israel's biggest trading partner in Asia since the two nations resumed ties in 1992," Danieli said here late Saturday.

"We might even exceed the $5 billion mark as going by the first three months of 2005, annual trade would cross $3 billion by the end of this year," said the envoy who participated in a Memorandum of Understanding signing ceremony between Bhagirathi Neotia Woman and Child Care Centre and Israel's Herzilya Medical Centre to set up a fertility clinic here.

He also attended a function to celebrate Israel's 57th Independence Day Saturday hosted by industrialist and that country's honorary consul in Kolkata, Harsh Neotia.

"The two countries will soon sign an agreement to set up a Research and Development Fund by pooling in money. The fund would provide risk free grants to help new inventors and entrepreneurs to develop their products," Danieli said.

"With this agreement, India would be the fifth nation with which Israel would have such a venture. The US is one such partner and with that country the contribution for the R$D fund exceeds $100 million on each side," Danieli said.

"Through this fund we want to target industry and encourage new industrial ventures," the ambassador said.

Since India and Israel established bilateral ties 13 years back, progress had been unprecedented, said Danieli. About 150 Israeli companies were working in India and some 100 of those had joint ventures with Indian companies.

"This is the right time to be in India. I have travelled the whole of India and found many Israelis working here. About 20,000 Israelis come to India as tourists every year. One percent of our population in Israel is of Indian origin as the Jewish from here settled there in the 1950s and 60s," Danieli said.

The envoy said apart from IT collaborations and trading in medical equipment, the two sides should diversify into other products and services. "Our future is in the realm of advanced technology," he emphasised.

--Indo-Asian News Service