Negotiations Begin for Trade Agreement with UAE

The Minister of Economy and Industry, Orna Barbivay, held a virtual meeting on Monday night with her UAE counterpart, H.E Abdullah bin Tuk al-Marie, and officially launched the negotiations for the establishment a CEPA (comprehensive economic partnership agreement) between the United Arab Emirates and the State of Israel.

Barbivay noted in a meeting with her UAE counterpart that “this meeting opens the door to an agreement that will help significantly strengthen trade between the two countries, remove barriers and expand economic cooperation.”

The Foreign Trade Administration – Israeli Ministry of Economy & Industry notes that since the “Abraham Accords” signing, more than a year ago, the trade between the countries has increased dramatically and as of July 2021 stands at about $500 million in goods alone. The Foreign Trade Administration anticipates that these figures will to continue to grow at a rapid pace and reach much higher levels.

The Foreign Trade Administration stated that the negotiations that the first round of negotiations started on Monday and will conclude Thursday of this week.

The volume of trade in goods in 2020 between Israel and the United Arab Emirates was about $ 125 million, which was divided into about $ 58 million exports and about $ 67 million imports. Following the signing of the Abraham Accords, a significant growth was shown in the volume of trade in 2021. According to preliminary data from the Central Bureau of Statistics, from the beginning of 2021 (January-July), the volume of trade between Israel and the United Arab Emirates stands at $ 495 million.

The export volume stands at $197 million, most of it in diamonds, mechanization and electrical equipment, electronics, transportation, and oils. The volume of imports stands at $ 298 million, most of them diamonds, mechanics, electrical and electronic equipment, jewelry, minerals and fuels, and oils.