Some of Australia’s most prominent businesswomen will attend a women’s business delegation in Israel to look at its emerging start-up culture.

Australian businesswomen including Lucy Turnball, Diane Smith-Gander, Karen Penrose and the University of Sydney chancellor Belinda Hutchison will be among a group of women attending a women’s business conference event, the first of its kind to be hosted in Israel by the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce (AICC).

Jillian Segal, NSW Chair of the AICC, a director of the National Australia Bank and Deputy Chancellor of the University of New South Wales said that the event will showcase Israel’s potential in the fintech space.

“There is an enormous amount of interest in the business community here in learning what we can from the remarkable situation which exists today in Israel,” she said.

“The country has re-invented itself as the ‘start-up nation’ with more start-ups per head than the US; we have to learn and understand the ecosystem and what goes into making innovative culture.”

The group will focus discussion around various financial technology issues including fintech and medical research, risk management, cyber security and the concept of the ‘smart city’. Segal said the event would allow Australia’s most prominent businesswomen to build connections in the Middle Eastern and the wider Asian region to bring back ideas to Australia.

“They will be exposed to the whole cultural ecosystem of innovation is Israel and understanding its drivers,” she said.

“They will bring back ideas on how we can continue to drive innovation through the Australian business community.”