以色列特拉維夫市市長：“創(chuàng)新，就來特拉維夫!”

□ 文/本刊記者 李靜 圖/唐楠

作為以色列特拉維夫市建城后的第9位市長，羅恩·胡爾代(Ron Huldai)的設(shè)想是將特拉維夫-雅法定位為世界創(chuàng)新和創(chuàng)造力的中心，將其打造成除北美之外的創(chuàng)新者和企業(yè)家的硅谷。同時，他還著力引領(lǐng)全國努力吸引海內(nèi)外人才和投資，尤其注重同中國的關(guān)系。

2014年11月28日，以色列特拉維夫-雅法市科技創(chuàng)新推介會在重慶舉行。特拉維夫-雅法市市長羅恩·胡爾代與重慶市企業(yè)、高校和科研機(jī)構(gòu)分享了特拉維夫的科技創(chuàng)新政策與創(chuàng)新經(jīng)驗(yàn)，并向重慶的創(chuàng)新創(chuàng)業(yè)者發(fā)出邀請——“創(chuàng)新，就來特拉維夫!”期間，胡爾代接受了本刊記者專訪，侃侃而談自己的重慶印象，及今后雙方的合作方向。

胡爾代曾多次以特拉維夫市長的身份訪華。他說：“有太多理由讓我一而再、再而三地訪問中國了。中國是世界上最大的經(jīng)濟(jì)體之一，也是世界上最大的市場之一，我曾多次訪問中國，親眼見證了中國的快速發(fā)展。中國經(jīng)濟(jì)正迅速發(fā)展著，我們當(dāng)然希望中國投資者能來到以色列，來到特拉維夫。”

此次重慶之行，除了參加以色列特拉維夫-雅法市科技創(chuàng)新推介會，胡爾代還參觀了重慶兩江新區(qū)，代表特拉維夫-雅法市與重慶簽訂了《合作備忘錄》，以加強(qiáng)兩市在經(jīng)貿(mào)、文化等領(lǐng)域的合作與交流。“重慶是一座充滿生機(jī)與發(fā)展?jié)摿Φ某鞘校陨刑貏e看重與中國的合作，尤其是正處于快速發(fā)展時期的中國西部地區(qū)。希望簽署此項(xiàng)備忘錄能與重慶開展更深入地合作。”胡爾代說。

感受特拉維夫創(chuàng)新氛圍

在整個采訪中，“創(chuàng)新”是胡爾代不斷提到的一個詞，他將特拉維夫稱為“創(chuàng)新城市”。

以色列特拉維夫市長 攝影：唐楠

建于1909年的特拉維夫，當(dāng)年只是地中海岸邊一片寸草不生的沙丘地帶，如今已發(fā)展成為以色列第二大中心城市，也是一座現(xiàn)代化的國際大都市。這座總面積只有51.8平方公里、人口約40.3萬的城市，聚集了以色列23%的高科技企業(yè)，其中有750多家“種子階段”的新創(chuàng)公司，是世界上新創(chuàng)公司密集度最高的城市之一。此外，還有大量企業(yè)孵化器、加速器和研發(fā)中心遍布全城。“特拉維夫是建立在創(chuàng)新與夢想之上的城市，我們推崇創(chuàng)造力與想象力!”胡爾代這樣描述他所在的城市。

特拉維夫毗鄰地中海，擁有非常美麗的海灘。豐富的水上運(yùn)動讓特拉維夫人在這里充分發(fā)揮著他們的運(yùn)動細(xì)胞。“除了美麗的海灘，特拉維夫還是一座擁有眾多餐館、酒吧的城市。不同的裝修風(fēng)格、各類風(fēng)味的餐廳以及酒吧都能讓游客流連忘返。”胡爾代說，特拉維夫曾多次被全球眾多知名媒體評選為最“美味”的城市。

陽光、沙灘和酒吧，悠閑的城市氛圍背后，特拉維夫用“創(chuàng)新”吸引著來自全球的投資者以及年輕創(chuàng)業(yè)者。以色列常被人們稱為“創(chuàng)業(yè)的國度”，而特拉維夫則被稱為以色列的創(chuàng)業(yè)之城。

對于新創(chuàng)公司，特拉維夫?qū)嵤┝硕愂战档?0%的優(yōu)惠政策，極大地減輕了創(chuàng)業(yè)者的負(fù)擔(dān)。胡爾代表示，特拉維夫歡迎世界各地的創(chuàng)新創(chuàng)業(yè)者，也致力于讓中小企業(yè)者能夠享受到更多的政策優(yōu)惠。“為了鼓勵年輕人創(chuàng)業(yè)，2013年起，我們開放了許多公共區(qū)域，為創(chuàng)業(yè)者提供免費(fèi)的場地、咖啡和網(wǎng)絡(luò)，以便他們能夠更好的工作。來到特拉維夫，你會發(fā)現(xiàn)，不論是普通市民還是游客，都可以在特拉維夫市內(nèi)利用Wi-Fi連接世界。無論是沙灘、公園、圖書館還是馬路邊都可以免費(fèi)連接Wi-Fi。許多創(chuàng)業(yè)者聚集在一起，共享工作空間，共同討論，經(jīng)常能迸發(fā)出一些新的想法。”胡爾代非常自豪地向記者介紹道。

特拉維夫-雅法市大鐘樓

除此以外，創(chuàng)新還被利用在城市管理當(dāng)中。特拉維夫擁有自己市政管理的APP軟件，并且開放了APP軟件數(shù)據(jù)，不論是尋找餐廳，還是停車都可以利用該APP得以實(shí)現(xiàn)。“目前約有25%的市民使用了該APP，同時我們開放了APP的數(shù)據(jù)庫，讓更多市民能夠參與到APP的改進(jìn)當(dāng)中來。”一邊說著，胡爾代一邊掏出自己的手機(jī)向記者展示，“如果我在特拉維夫想騎自行車，只要登錄這個應(yīng)用，就可以幫我搜索到可以租借自行車的地方，非常方便。”

注重高校交流 豐厚獎學(xué)金吸引中國學(xué)生

胡爾代稱，此次訪華的另一個主要目的在于吸引更多中國學(xué)生及有才之士來到以色列，尤其是特拉維夫這個創(chuàng)新城市。“為了吸引更多中國留學(xué)生來到以色列，除了提供豐厚的獎學(xué)金外，我們還組織以色列的一些知名大學(xué)開展英文課程，并與中國的一些大學(xué)與科研機(jī)構(gòu)簽訂合作協(xié)議，開展學(xué)生交流項(xiàng)目等。”胡爾代鼓勵特拉維夫與重慶高校之間學(xué)生的交換，“每年9月，在特拉維夫舉辦的‘創(chuàng)新周’活動上，我們都會向中國朋友提供中文資料，如今已經(jīng)有越來越多的中國人參與其中。”

以色列駐成都總領(lǐng)館開館 簽證辦理更便捷

除了文化教育與學(xué)術(shù)交流方面，胡爾代也希望兩地能在旅游領(lǐng)域展開更多交流與合作，能有更多中國游客來到以色列，來到特拉維夫。“特拉維夫是一座極具特色的城市，因?yàn)橐陨惺且粋€移民國家，所以這個城市也聚集了來自不同地方的人群，幾個街區(qū)之隔，就能體會到完全不一樣的風(fēng)情。特拉維夫也是一座新舊融合的城市，其中的雅法古城建于5000年前，現(xiàn)在是藝術(shù)家的聚集區(qū)，而僅10多分鐘路程，你就可以來到快節(jié)奏的新城區(qū)。”胡爾代向記者推介道。

數(shù)據(jù)顯示，以色列自2009年簽訂中國公民旅游協(xié)議以來，前往以色列的中國游客呈現(xiàn)每年30%的持續(xù)增長。2013年前往以色列的中國游客數(shù)量達(dá)到兩萬五千人次，比前年增長30%。同時，2014年第一季度中國入境以色列的游客人數(shù)同比增長了65%。

2014年11月17日，以色列駐成都總領(lǐng)事館正式開館。簽證方面，以色列將縮短中國公民赴以簽證辦理時間，其中個人旅游簽有望從目前的10日縮短至5日，商務(wù)簽有望從目前的5天縮短至48小時。以色列駐成都總領(lǐng)事館的開館將使中國西南地區(qū)人士赴以色列的簽證辦理更加快捷，意味著重慶與以色列之間的交往將更加頻繁，兩地關(guān)系將得到促進(jìn)。胡爾代希望未來在以色列看到更多來自重慶的游客。

“2015年9月，在‘DLD特拉維夫創(chuàng)新節(jié)’期間，我們將舉辦以‘破解創(chuàng)新代碼’為主題的第六屆特拉維夫城市峰會，非常歡迎重慶代表團(tuán)參加!”胡爾代向重慶發(fā)出了盛情邀請。

“For Innovation,Come to Tel Aviv!”,Says Its Mayor

As the 9thMayor of Tel Aviv since the founding of the nation of Israel,Ron Huldai’s vision is to turn Tel Aviv-Jaffa into a center of innovation and creativity,comparable to a Silicon Valley of innovators and entrepreneurs in North America.He is also dedicated to attracting talent and investment from both at home and abroad,with particular emphasis on relations with China.

On November 28,2014 a Tel Aviv-Jaffa of Israel Technology Innovation Seminar was held in Chongqing.Mr.Huldai shared the experience of technology innovation and innovation policies with enterprises,universities and research institutions in Chongqing,sending invitations to Chongqing innovative entrepreneurs – “For Innovations,come to Tel Aviv!”During the seminar he agreed to an exclusive interview with our reporter,talking about his impression of Chongqing and about future cooperation between the two parties.

During his Chongqing trip,Mr.Huldai also visited Liangjiang New Area and signed a memorandum of cooperation with Chongqing on behalf of the Tel Aviv-Jaffa municipality to strengthen cooperation and exchanges in economic,trade,cultural and other fields.“Chongqing is a city full of vitality and development potential.Israel attaches special importance to its cooperation with China,especially in times of such rapid development of China’s Western region.I am hoping for a deeper cooperation with Chongqing after signing the memorandum.”He said.

Feeling the Innovation of Tel Aviv

“Innovation”is the word that Mr.Huldai kept mentioning throughout the entire interview.He calls Tel Aviv a “creative city”.“Tel Aviv is a city that’s built on innovation and dreams.We stand for creativity and imagination!”as he described the city he lives in.

Tel Aviv is on the edge of the Eastern Mediterranean and has a very beautiful beach.Visitors to Tel Aviv beach often see it as “overcrowded”.“Besides the beautiful beach,Tel Aviv is a city of numerous restaurants and bars with many different decoration styles.”Mr.Huldai said.Tel Aviv has been awarded as a most “delicious”city by many well known global experts on numerous occasions.

Besides the sunshine,beaches,bars and the laidback atmosphere of the city,Tel Aviv is attracting investors and young entrepreneurs from around the world with its “innovation”.Israel has often been referred to as a “start-up nation”,while Tel Aviv is known as the start-up city of Israel.

For new start-up companies,Tel Aviv has implemented a preferential 50% tax reduction policy,which has greatly eased the burden on entrepreneurs.Mr.Huldai says Tel Aviv welcomes innovative entrepreneurs from all over the world and is also committed to allowing SMEs to enjoy more preferential policies.“In order to encourage youth entrepreneurship,we’ve begun to open many public areas,offering free venues,coffee and networking for entrepreneurs since 2013,so they can work better.You will find that both individuals and tourists can use wi-fito connect to the world in Tel Aviv.Whether you are at beaches,parks or libraries,even the roads have free wi-fi.Many entrepreneurs get together to share work space and have discussions.This is just an example of some of our new ideas.”Mr.Huldai said proudly.

Innovation is also used in urban management.“Tel Aviv has its own APP software for municipal management and has opened its APP software date to the public.Whether looking for a restaurant or a parking lot,you can use the APP software to get it done.Only about 25% of the citizens were using the APP,so we opened the APP database,hoping more people would participate in the improvement of the APP.”He said,while taking out his phone,“Ifiwanted to cycle in Tel Aviv,ifilog into the software,it could help me find places where I could borrow a bicycle.Very convenient!”

Generous Scholarships Available to Chinese Students for University Exchanges

Mr.Huldai said another main purpose of this visit is to attract more Chinese students and talented people to come to Israel,especially to Tel Aviv.“We offer generous scholarships to attract more Chinese students.We also organize some English courses in Israel’s renowned universities and have signed cooperation agreements with Chinese universities and research institutions for student exchange programs.”Mr.Huldai encourages Chinese student exchanges between Tel Aviv and Chongqing’s universities.“We will have ‘innovation week’every September in Tel Aviv and provide Chinese language materials to our Chinese friends,so there are more and more Chinese people getting involved.”

New Israel Consulate in Chengdu and Faster Visa Processing Great for Chinese Travelers

Mr.Huldai plans more exchanges and cooperation in travel and tourism between the two cities,hoping there will be more Chinese tourists going to Israel and Tel Aviv.“Tel Aviv is a fusion of old and new.Jaffa,an ancient city,built 5,000 years ago,is now an artist area.You’ll be able to walk from Jaffa to the new urban district in 10 minutes,”he recommended to the reporter.

Israel opened its new Consulate General in Chengdu on November 17,2014.The opening of the Consulate General will make visa processing faster for Chinese in the Southwest who travel to Israel,shortening the tourist visa processing time for Chinese citizens from 10 days to five days.The business visa processing time is also expected to be reduced from five days to 48 hours.This means the connection between Chongqing and Israel will become stronger,further facilitating better relations.He hopes to see more Chongqing tourists traveling to Israel in the near future.

“In September,2015,during the time of our ‘DLD innovation festival’in Tel Aviv we will have the Sixth Summit of Tel Aviv City,with ‘Cracking the Creative Code’as its theme.We’d love to welcome delegations from Chongqing!”Mr.Huldai has sent a warm invitation to Chongqing