Business leaders have hailed the ‘unprecedented’ free trade deal announced on Tuesday between the UAE and Israel – the first time in history that Israel has done so with an Arab country.
Israel and the United Arab Emirates have announced the free trade agreement, after formally establishing ties in 2020 as part of the US-brokered Abraham Accords that also included Bahrain and Morocco.
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Dorian Barak, co-founder of the UAE-Israel Business Council, told Al Arabiya English that UAE-Israel trade will have untold benefits over the next five years.
“UAE-Israel trade will exceed $2 billion in 2022, rising to around $5 billion in five years, bolstered by collaboration in renewables, consumer goods, tourism, and the life sciences sectors.
“Additionally, Dubai is fast becoming a hub for Israeli companies that look to South Asia, the Middle East and the Far East as markets for their goods and services.
“Nearly 1,000 Israeli companies will be working in and through the UAE by year’s end. It’s unprecedented.”
Yariv Becher, vic president ofInnovation Diplomacy at Start-Up Nation Central, said: “This agreement will enable Israeli innovative technologies and startup companies to better engage and do business with their counterparts in the UAE.
“It is one more step of integrating both country’s economies with an emphasis on high-tech and innovation-based trade. Start-Up Nation Central works with key leaders from both the private and public sectors to successfully navigate and identify opportunities in each other’s tech ecosystem.”
The trade agreement includes 95 percent of traded products, which will be customs free, immediately or gradually, including food, agriculture and cosmetic products, as well as medical equipment and medicine, the Israeli Economy Ministry said in a statement in April, after negotiations were being discussed.
The agreement included regulation, customs, services, government procurement and electronic trade.
“This milestone deal will build on the historic Abraham Accords and cement one of the world’s most important and promising emerging trading relationships,” United Arab Emirates Minister of State for Foreign Trade Thani al-Zeyoudi said on Twitter at the time.
The Abraham Accords have led to a slew of cooperative agreements between the two Middle Eastern countries including the tourism and healthcare industries, scientific research and space exploration.
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