Dear Wharton Alumni

It is a great pleasure for me to welcome you to the Wharton-Israel Alumni Conference on the Globalization of Technology Intensive Businesses.

In today's world, governments are too small for global issues and too big for local issues. Actually, globalization is in the hands of the private sector because there is no global government. Strangely enough, the private sector is more internationally oriented than governments. The private sector understands that international economy is without geography, and that economics is without borders.
In this context, private sectors can create the interdependence that is so essential to ensure peace, stability and prosperity in many parts of our world.

What better experience can there be for Wharton alumni than to examine the challenges of the future in a hothouse of technological advances and entrepreneurship such as Israel has developed.
In this country there exists a unique blend of a multi-cultural population, a young and dynamic work force and a technology-oriented society. In a short time-span, Israel has succeeded in transforming its economy from that of a developing country into that of a highly developed nation.

I sincerely hope that this conference will lay the foundations for many lasting relationships for Wharton alumni from all over the world.

I look forward to this conference and to greeting you there.

Shimon Peres
Minister of Regional Cooperation