O’Malley to visit Israel on trade mission

Goal is to promote foreign investment

‘‘We have a number of Israeli companies now and we obviously want to keep growing them,” said Barry E. Bogage, executive director of the Maryland⁄Israel Development Center, which is facilitating the trip. ‘‘With the talent that we have in Maryland and the large Israeli community that’s here ... it’s a great home for Israeli companies.”

More than 30 Israeli companies have offices in Maryland, Bogage said. The nonprofit development group promotes business enterprises between the two lands.

O’Malley, when he was mayor of Baltimore, visited Israel in 2005 on a homeland security mission.

This time, the governor will promote Maryland at the Israel Biomed Conference — the country’s leading international business symposium, which attracts over 5,000 attendees from 40 countries — and meet with executives of top Israeli companies like Teva Pharmaceuticals, which in January acquired Rockville-based CoGenesys Inc. for $400 million.

O’Malley will also meet with Israeli President Shimon Peres, Minister of Industry and Trade Eli Yishay and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, whom O’Malley hosted at Government House during the Annapolis peace talks in November. He will also attend ceremonies to celebrate Israel’s 60th anniversary.

Maryland governors have routinely led missions to Israel. William Donald Schaefer (D) was the first in 1989, Parris N. Glendening (D) did so in 1997 and Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) followed suit in 2003. Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele (R) also went in 2005.

The Department of Business and Economic Development will pay for state officials going on the expedition, said O’Malley’s press secretary, Rick Abbruzzese.