(JTA) – Israel poses a challenge to the United States in the leadership of the global high technology industry, according to Carlos Slim, a Mexican telecommunications magnate. “You are the leaders in technology, but there are other countries moving there – China, Israel – and everyone wants to improve,” Slim, 76, said in a TV interview with Bloomberg on Dec. 1. Slim is considered one of the world’s 10 richest people, according to Forbes magazine. In 2013, Slim topped the list as the world’s richest person for the fourth year in a row. On that same year, he welcomed the late Israeli President Shimon Peres at the largest book fair of the Spanish-speaking world in Mexico, where Israel was the country of honor. Also in 2013, Slim invested $60 million in the Israeli startup Mobli as part of a partnership with the biggest cellular company in Latin America, American Mobile, which he owned.