Israel sees expanding joint research and development with the U.S. as a way to boost trade in the era of Donald Trump’s “America First.” “The minute we work together on technology, we both maintain our security and civilian advantage,” said Economy Minister Eli Cohen, who met with Gary Cohn, director of the U.S. National Economic Council. The intention is to “deepen development ties” through the existing Israel-U.S. Binational Industrial Research and Development fund, known as BIRD, which promotes projects of mutual benefit to both countries, he said in an interview. Eitan Yudilevich, executive director of BIRD, said the foundation hopes to add $50 million to its fund in the next five years, doubling its financing capability. The idea is to expand investment in all areas, including mobility, cyber security and manufacturing, he said. The foundation has invested in 948 projects since its founding in 1977 and its products have generated $10 billion in indirect and direct revenue for both countries and created tens of thousands of jobs, according to the Economy Ministry. Second-Biggest The U.S. is Israel’s second-biggest export market after the European Union, and Israel has the second-highest concentration of startups after Silicon Valley, the ministry says. Israeli foreign direct investment in the U.S. totaled $25 billion in 2015, twice as much as U.S. investment in Israel, according to SelectUSA, the government program to promote business investment in the U.S. The software and services sector drew the most Israeli money. Israel’s strengths should allow it to do well even at a time of U.S. retrenchment overseas, said Eytan Gilboa, political scientist at Bar-Ilan University and director of its center of international communication. In his inaugural address, Trump promised to protect U.S. jobs and put the country’s interest above all others. “The kind of trade and economic cooperation that the U.S. has with Israel is not what Trump is concerned about,” Gilboa said. “Israel can benefit from it because of close collaboration, especially in cyber security, high technology, clean technology and startups where it can contribute to the U.S. more than the other way around.” With more than 3,000 small technology companies, Israel has the largest number of startups per capita, the Economy Ministry says. Cohen said Israel also wants to encourage U.S. companies to open manufacturing operations in Israel, following in the footsteps of Intel Corp., Applied Materials Inc., Hewlett Packard Enterprises Co. and Perrigo Co. Its enterprising approach would be the draw, even if other countries would offer lower labor costs, he said. “We are expecting the relationship with Israel to be different,” Cohen said. “Our value is not in labor but in innovation.”