UAE and Israel sign free trade agreement

Abu Dhabi: The UAE has signed a historic Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with Israel. Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade, tweeted on Tuesday that the agreement will push the value of non-oil bilateral trade beyond $10 billion within five years, Khaleej Times reported.

The agreement "builds on the strong foundations laid by the Abraham Accords", the minister tweeted.

The Abraham Accords are a series of treaties that led to the normalising diplomatic relations between Israel on the one side and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco on the other, at the initiative by the U.S. between August and December, 2020. The four Arab states joined Egypt and Jordan who had peace deals with Israel earlier, whereas most Arab and Muslim countries keep away any ties with the Jewish nation.  The agreements were called "The Abraham Accords" in honor of Abraham - prophet sacred to all the three religions dominant in the Middle East, i.e. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Mohamed Al Khaja, Ambassador of the UAE to Israel, tweeted that the deal is an "unprecedented achievement".

"Businesses in both countries will benefit from faster access to markets and lower tariffs as our nations work together to increase trade, create jobs, promote new skills and deepen cooperation," he added.

Although Israel has commercial relations with other Arab countries, the new trade deal with the UAE is Israel's first with an Arab country.

Israel's ambassador to the UAE, Amir Hayek, shared photos of the agreement signing ceremony.

Last week, Dr Al Zeyoudi said bilateral trade between the UAE and Israel increased to more than $2.5 billion in less than two years after the Abraham Accords was signed.

During a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the minister said both countries had concluded talks on CEPA in April.