*中国以色列总经理Dr. Iris Kastoriano
以色列作为创新和科技的热点国家，其科技优势一直与中国的市场需求完美结合。近日，我会总经理Dr. Iris Kastoriano接受福布斯的《多国商会领袖齐聚拱墅高峰对话》访问，其中提到以色列商会在支持以色列企业在华发展中所发挥的作用，以色列公司在华面临的机遇、挑战和她给出的建议等等。
As a hot country for innovation and technology, Israel's technological strengths have always been perfectly aligned with China's market needs. Recently, Dr. Iris Kastoriano, the General Manager at IsCham was interviewed by Forbes China in the "Gongchen Yinshu Looks at the Future" live series, where she metioned the role of IsCham in supporting Israeli companies in China, the opportunities & challenges that Israeli companies are facing and gave her advices on how to tackle those.
请跟我们分享一下以色列商会目前的情况？
Please tell us about the current status of Israeli Chamber of Commerce in China？
中国以色列商会自2008年以来一直以促进中以商业合作为己任。我们的紧密合作伙伴包括以色列驻华大使馆、以色列经济部、驻华经济参赞以及一些中以本地战略合作伙伴。我们未来几个月的计划是带领更多以色列初创企业进入中国市场促进投融资，推动合作关系建立，提高市场规模占比，与中国合作伙伴共同推动合作发展。我们也在积极推进以色列科技公司代表团来华探讨更多可能性。自今年2月以来，以色列商会在以色列的战略伙伴中以丝绸之路协会的协助下，正在安排中国代表团来以色列交流技术、孵化项目并给予最大支持。相信在双方的共同努力下，大型的合作更有可能出现。
IsCham has been operating successfully in China since 2008 for the benefit of business corporation between China and Israel. We are working closely with the Israeli embassy in Beijing, the Israeli Ministry of Economy and its economic consuls in China and our web of local and strategic partners in China and Israel. Our plan for the next few months is to bring to China more Israeli startups companies that are in need for investment, partnership or scale up their market,together with Chinese partners. We are also in the process of organizing Israeli tech companies’ delegations to explore possibilities. Since February, the Israeli Chamber of Commerce, with the assistance of ViaMeshi, its strategic partner in Israel, are supporting and welcoming Chinese delegations arriving to Israel to explore technologies and incubators. As there is a strong determination from both sides，strong corporation is more likely to happen.
请问您如何看待中国当前的营商环境？贵商会会员公司在中国市场面临哪些困难和挑战？
What is your opinion on the current business environment in China? What difficulties or challenges have your member companies faced in Chinese market？
我们正经历一个特殊时期。疫情席卷全球，不仅仅是中国。因为疫情，很多过程都加快了。从我的角度来看，这并不都是坏事。一个明显的例子是企业开始用本地雇员代替外国雇员：许多外国公司用当地的中国员工替换他们的驻华雇员，在大多数情况下是中层管理人员。从长远来看，这一趋势是非常积极的。外国公司赋予当地员工更多权责并且沟通方式也越来越高效。当地雇员和外国经理人也已学会了如何跨越鸿沟、克服文化差异。当然，这对中国来说是一个非常积极的变化。所以疫情之后，我们看到了许多积极的趋势和变化，这将有助于经济的复苏和加速。
This is an odd period we are facing. The pandemic struck the world, not only China, and many processes that were accelerated due to the pandemic. I have to say not all are bad from my perspective. A very clear example is the replacement of foreign employees with local employees; many foreign companies lost their foreign managers and replace them with local Chinese employees. In most cases at the mid-level management. This trend is very positive for the long run. Foreign companies are given more responsibilities to local employees and communication and methods are getting more and more effective. Local employees as well as foreign managers have learned how to overcome the gaps and the culture differences and for sure, this is a very positive change for China. So, we see many positive trends and changes after the pandemic that would contribute to the economy’s recovery and acceleration.
对于那些在以色列成长并想进入中国市场的公司而言，您有什么建议和支持措施？
For those growing enterprises in Israel who want to enter the Chinese market, what suggestions and support measures do you have？
首先，我们会帮助这些公司了解中国市场，帮助他们评估是否契合中国市场，以便规划后续的资源投入、产品研发销售、长期发展等事宜。其次，同样重要的是我们帮助这些公司评估产品与中国市场的契合度，所有想要进入中国市场的公司都要做好与当地企业竞争的准备。
First, we help and support the company to understand and to evaluate if they are able to be fully invested in the Chinese market，and if they will put the effort and resources to develop their product in the Chinese market as a long-term commitment. Secondly, but not less important, we help the company to understand if there is an interest in their product in the Chinese market; every company that wants to enter the Chinese market should be ready to face a strong competition from major Chinese companies operating in the market.