The UAE is planning to improve economic relations with Israel to more than $1 trillion in the next 10 years, Bloomberg reported citing Economy Minister Abdulla Bin Touq.

The UAE has signed more than 60 MoUs with Israel after normalising relations in 2020 and is expecting an “influx” of trade in the next two years, Bin Touq told a virtual conference from the U.S., the report said.

“We have $600 to $700 million dollars of bilateral trade happening, we have funds of billions of dollars that have been announced jointly between the two countries, we are moving into so many areas of economic opportunities. We are looking to create over $1 trillion dollars of economic activity over the next decade,” Bloomberg quoted Bin Touq as saying.

The deals include Mubadala Investment Co.’s purchase of Delek Drilling's stake in an Israeli gas field.

In the first week of September, Tel Aviv-listed Delek Drilling said it will sell its 22 percent stake in the east Mediterranean Tamar gas field to Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Petroleum for about $1 billion.

Last year UAE changed the course of history in the region by announcing plans to normalise relations with Israel. On September 15, 2020, UAE and Bahrain signed the Abraham Accords recognising that “the best way to address challenges is through cooperation and dialogue."

According to data available with the Central Bureau of Statistics, UAE and Israel have done business worth around $570 million after signing Abraham Accords. 

The UAE, which is ranked first in the Arab world and in the region and 15th globally in the Kearney FDI Confidence Index for 2021, is making big strides in trade relations with growing economies in Asia and Africa.

The Emirates recently announced that it is strengthening its trade ties and economic partnerships with eight countries in Asia and Africa in its efforts to become a global hub for finance and business as well as to secure around $150 billion in foreign investment as part of a broad nine-year plan.

(Writing by Seban Scaria; editing by Daniel Luiz)

seban.scaria@refinitiv.com

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