UAE wants $1 trillion in economic activity in next 10 years
Dubai - Sept 14 Reuters - The United Arab Emirates aims to increase the value of economic activity in the next 10 years by Israel, who hopes to work together on anything from healthcare to climate change and energy, the UAE economy minister said.
The Middle East trade hub has signed dozens of memorandums of understanding with its new friend in the year since it became the first Arab state to normalise ties with Israel this century.
It was not immediately clear how the two countries expect to achieve the goal of $1 trillion in economic activity in the next decade. Each country has a gross domestic product of roughly 400 billion dollars.
The UAE and Israel invest between $600 million and $700 million in virtual trade, minister Abdulla Bin Touq Al Marri said in a bilateral conference on Monday. Reaching that level in one year was an achievement at its own time, he said, adding he expected more trade.
I am looking to create $1.0 trillion of economic activity over the next decade, said He adding that they are moving into so many areas with an economic advantage. The Israeli government said it expects $1 billion in trade with the UAE by 2021 and $3 billion in three years, still far below the UAE's $24 billion of exports to its top destination, Saudi Arabia in 2019.
In September of last year, the UAE and Bahrain, followed by Sudan and Morocco, inked U.S. - signed contracts to establish ties with Israel, joining Egypt and Jordan as the only Arab states to recognise the Jewish state.
Publicly announced deals include around 40 MoUs and around 30 other types of agreements related to financial, energy, sports, agriculture, aviation, aerospace and media sectors as well as investment promotion and COVID-19 technology.
But a $3 billion fund announced by the United States, Israel and Jordan to encourage regional investment and collaboration has gone quiet, as has a $10 billion fund of UAE private and state funds announced in March to invest in Israeli strategic sectors.