Signed in Dubai: A free trade agreement with the UAE: trade will rise to about $ 3 billion a year

Economy Minister Orna Barbibai and Emirati Economy Minister Abdullah bin Tok al-Marie signed a free trade agreement with the United Arab Emirates in Dubai. The Ministry of Economy estimates that the volume of trade between the two countries, which now reaches almost $ 900 million a year, is expected to grow in the coming years to about $ 3 billion a year.
The United Arab Emirates is the first Arab country with which Israel has signed a full free trade agreement. The free trade agreement was made possible after the normalization between the two countries under the Abrahamic Agreements in 2020. However, at this stage there are no contacts for a similar trade agreement with Bahrain, which was also included in the Abrahamic agreements.
Israel currently has 12 trade agreements with countries, mostly Western, and this is the 13th agreement. The latest agreement was signed with South Korea a few months ago. Free trade agreements allow the two countries to trade between them while removing barriers, and especially eliminating customs between the countries.
Under the agreement with the emirates, customs will be abolished or reduced on 96% of the products exported from Israel to emirates, and in 82% of them the customs will be immediately reduced to zero. The agreement also includes a clause protecting intellectual property rights, and regulatory certainty will be provided. "This is an important agreement for the Israeli economy," says Ohad Cohen, head of the Foreign Trade Administration at the Ministry of Economy and Industry, and who led the negotiations with the emirates. "This will enable growth for Israel, increase exports and also additional jobs in Israel."
Cohen says the current agreement, which was signed relatively quickly, also has political significance. "We are now declaring free trade with an Arab country," says Cohen. "There is a lot of interest in Israeli innovation and technologies. Israel can also give the United Arab Emirates access to additional markets."
Israel is the second country with which the United Arab Emirates signs such an agreement, after signing an agreement with India a few months ago. "Many times when you negotiate you end up with a bitter taste in your mouth. That's not the situation here. We really felt friends with them. It is not trivial, certainly not with an Arab country," says Cohen.
Until the signing of the Avraham agreements, the United Arab Emirates had a law that boycotted all business activities with Israel. This boycott was removed in the Abrahamic treaties. "We are now closing a gap of 50 years, since the UAE was established," Cohen says.
As stated, at this stage there are no similar negotiations with Bahrain. In recent weeks, there has also been a report of increasing business activity between Israel and Saudi Arabia. According to Cohen, "Regarding Saudi Arabia, I very much hope that there will indeed be more opportunities, but there is a need to wait."