Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's Google Doodle. Source: P.M. Netanyahu / Facebook.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with the heads of Waze, an Israeli mapping start-up recently acquired by Google for over $1 billion, and held a meeting with Israeli economic leaders, in advance of a trip to Davos, Switzerland, this week for the World Economic Forum, which begins on Wednesday.

In a statement, the Prime Minister’s office said at Davos, Netanyahu will meet Marissa Mayer, Yahoo’s President and CEO, and Nikesh Arora, Google’s Senior Vice President and Chief Business Officer. The statement said that, in both meetings, “the Prime Minister will emphasize Israeli innovation and the technological leadership of the Israeli high-tech industry in order to expand economic cooperation with the two companies.”

Earlier this month, Israeli Finance Minister Yair Lapid and Google Israel CEO Meir Brand signed a memorandum of understanding to increase the implementation of Google technology across government systems to improve responsiveness to citizens.

In addition, a report was published on the venture capital sector, showing that in 10 years, exits by Israeli high-tech companies totaled $47 billion in almost 800 deals.

The WEF invitation sent to the Prime Minister, noted that Israel is a key to positive developments in the regional and global economies and that the Forum will be a significant opportunity to present the government’s economic policies, the statement said.

When Netanyahu accepted the invitation to speak at the WEF last month, he said, “The Israeli economy has been successful in the face of the global economic crisis and is continuing to show high growth and low unemployment. Participation in the World Economic Forum will allow us to showcase the achievements of the Israeli economy to the entire world. I believe that the attention which the Israeli cyber and high-tech industries will receive at the Forum will assist in strengthening their status as global leaders.”

Netanyahu will also address the Forum plenum. In his remarks, he will focus on the technological leadership of the Israeli high-tech industry with an emphasis on the cyber industry, the statement said.

Netanyahu will also hold working meetings with Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and other heads of state and government in order to advance economic cooperation.