Israel, UAE sign first cooperation agreement

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the agreement, saying it will "help us promote mutual investments and broad cooperation."

By LAHAV HARKOV, REUTERS
First Gulf Bank (FGB), Khalid Bin Al-Waleed Road in Dubai, UAE (photo credit: REUTERS/NIKHIL MONTEIRO/FILE PHOTO)
First Gulf Bank (FGB), Khalid Bin Al-Waleed Road in Dubai, UAE
(photo credit: REUTERS/NIKHIL MONTEIRO/FILE PHOTO)
Israel and the United Arab Emirates signed their first-ever agreement, in the areas of banking and finance, on Tuesday.
The UAE central bank, the Israeli Finance Ministry and Israeli financial regulators reached an agreement by which they will form a joint committee on finance and investments and will continue to discuss promoting financial services cooperation. The countries will remove obstacles to investments between them and promote joint investments in the capital market.
They will also discuss cooperation in banking services and payment regulation, and how to meet international standards for investments.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the agreement, saying it will “help us promote mutual investments and broad cooperation.”
“We will soon announce additional agreements in aviation, tourism, trade and more,” he added.
Separately, the state-run Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) and Invest in Israel – part of the Economy Ministry – said in a joint statement that they agreed to set out a plan to establish formal cooperation.
“The organizations will explore mutually beneficial areas of collaboration to unlock investment and partnership opportunities for companies in Israel and Abu Dhabi with a strong focus on innovation and technology,” they said.
An initial virtual meeting was held between Ziva Eger, Invest in Israel’s chief executive, and Monira Hisham al-Kuttab, who leads ADIO’s international promotional activity. Further meetings are scheduled throughout September.
“Israel’s ecosystem has a lot to offer to the UAE’s economy in terms of innovation, specifically in the life sciences, cleantech, agtech and energy sectors,” Eger said in the statement.
ADIO director-general Tariq Bin Hendi said that the office’s investor-care team would “facilitate connections throughout Abu Dhabi’s ecosystem” and explore opportunities over the coming months.