During a visit to Singapore, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that his country was pursuing greater ties across Asia.
"Israel is pivoting towards Asia in a very clear and purposeful way," he told a press conference and dinner event, according to a video from an attendee provided to CNBC Asia.
The language echoed former U.S. President Barack Obama's plan to pivot U.S. diplomatic relations toward Asia, in part to counter China's growing power, but that plan appeared to have been abandoned by the current U.S. president, Donald Trump.
Netanyahu said he was set to visit China next month and that India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi would visit Israel later this year. The comments came during the first visit to Singapore by an Israeli head of state in three decades.
Business ties between Israel and Asia have been growing.
Earlier this year, Israel and China reportedly reached a deal for around 6,000 Chinese construction workers to come to Israel to help with housing construction. Israel has long faced a housing shortage, in part due to a lack of sufficient construction workers.
On Tuesday, Netanyahu was scheduled to visit a Singapore public housing estate, a visit the Israeli prime minister said he requested as he wanted to learn how the island-nation had resolved the issue. Recently, Israeli officials have also traveled to Singapore to study the city-state's public housing system for ideas on how to help ease its own housing shortage. Ironically, in the 1960s, Singapore set up its own system after studying Israel's.
Israel and China have agreed to begin negotiating a free-trade agreement. Additionally, Chinese investment in Israeli technology companies and in infrastructure has been growing and Chinese tourists have been heading to the country.
India and Israel have had long-standing economic, trade and defense ties, with India among the largest customers for Israel's military equipment.
Israel's prime minister highlighted that his country cooperates with Singapore on the economy, trade and technology.
"This strengthens both our countries. We have extraordinary reputations within the world, but the fact is when we combine them, we have an even more powerful brand," Netanyahu said. "That brand is very powerful. We spoke today about collaborating with third countries. We're already doing that in one African case. I think we should do that in many countries in Africa, many countries in the Pacific."
Netanyahu noted that a joint research and development fund with Singapore had already funded 150 projects.