Israel signed a free trade agreement with the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday, its first big trade accord with an Arab state, and a move aimed at boosting trade between the two Middle East nations. Its first big trade accord with an Arab state reduces or removes tariffs and overtime targets lifting annual bilateral trade to more than $10 billion.
The pact was signed in Dubai after months of negotiations. It was signed by Israel’s Minister of Economy and Industry Orna Barbivai and her counterpart, UAE Minister of Economy Abdulla bin Touq Al-Marri.
The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement would boost bilateral trade to more than $10 billion a year within five years. Tariffs will be eliminated on 96% of goods with the UAE, which is predicted for the trade.
President of the UAE-Israel Business Council Dorian Barak said the trade agreement defined tax rates, imports, and intellectual property, which would encourage more Israeli companies to set up offices in the UAE, particularly in Dubai. The council predicts there will be almost 1,000 Israeli companies working in or through the UAE by the end of the year doing business with South Asia, the Far East, and the Middle East.
Ahead of the signing, Israel’s economy ministry had said the accord would remove tariffs on food, agriculture, cosmetics, medical equipment, and medicine.
Thani Al Zeyoudi, the Emirati Trade Minister said the trade deal wrote a new chapter history of the Middle East. “Our agreement will accelerate growth, create jobs and lead to a new era of peace, stability, and prosperity across the region,” he wrote on Twitter.
The agreement has been signed amid escalating Israeli-Palestinian violence.
For encouraging more Israeli companies to set up offices in UAE, particularly in Dubai President of the UAE-Israel Business Council Dorian Barak said the trade agreement defined tax rates, imports, and intellectual property. The council predicts there will be almost 1,000 Israeli companies working in or through the UAE by the end of the year doing business with South Asia, the Far East, and the Middle East.
“The domestic market doesn’t represent the entirety of the opportunity. The opportunity is really set up in Dubai, as many companies have, in order to target the broader region,” Barak told Reuters by phone.
Emirati-Israeli trade reached $1.2 billion in 2021, according to official Israeli data. Israel and the UAE established ties in September 2020 in the U.S. brokered the deal that broke with decades of Arab policy that had called for a Palestinian state before ties with Israel.
