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Join on Telegram Rabat – Israel has just secured a free trade agreement with the UAE, making the Gulf state the first Arab country to sign such an accord with the Israeli government.
Israel’s Minister of Economy and Industry Orna Barbivai and her UAE counterpart, Minister of Economy Abdulla bin Touq al-Marri, signed the agreement today after several months of negotiations.
The signing of the deal made international headlines, with many reports describing it as a historic accord for Israel.
Amir Hayek, the Israeli ambassador to the UAE, expressed satisfaction with the signing of the pact in a tweet with a caption reading “Done.”
The UAE’s Trade Minister Thani al Zeyoudi also welcomed the signing of the agreement, saying it will accelerate growth, create jobs, and “lead to a new era of peace, stability, and prosperity across the region.”
Dorian Barak, President of the UAE-Israel Business Council, said he expects the deal to encourage more Israeli businesses to open their offices in the Gulf country.
“The domestic market doesn’t represent the entirety of the opportunity. The opportunity is really setting up in Dubai, as many companies have, in order to target the border region,” Al Jazeera quoted the council president as saying.
The UAE is among the Arab countries that decided in late 2020 to establish relations with Israel as part of the US-brokered Abraham Accords.
Since then, the Israeli and Emirati governments have vowed to deepen their cooperation in numerous sectors to further their economic relations and consolidate their political dialogue.
According to data compiled by the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC), Israeli exports to the UAE increased at an “annualized rate of 23.4% from $308,0000 in 1995 to $58.8 million in 2020.”
Meanwhile, Emirati exports to Israel stood at $120 in 2020, with the Gulf country particularly exporting diamonds, broadcasting equipment, and other oily seeds.
Despite the noted improvement in cooperation between the two countries, the UAE recently issued a statement in which it strongly condemned Israel’s systematic attacks against Palestine amid violence at the Al Aqsa mosque.
Israeli troops have been carrying out several violent raids targeting Palestinians in the Al Aqsa compound, sparking outrage in the Arab world and in the international community in general.
