Israel Signs Free Trade Agreement with UAE... First with an Arab Country "A Historic Event"

Screenshot of Twitter by Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade

Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) on the 31st (local time).

Naftali Bennett, Prime Minister of Israel, announced on Twitter that "Israel has signed an FTA with the UAE, becoming the first Arab country to do so."

Amir Hayek, Israeli Ambassador to the UAE, also attended the signing ceremony held in Dubai that day and described it as a "historic event" on Twitter.

As a result, tariffs on 96% of trade items between the two countries, including food, agricultural products, cosmetics, medical devices, and pharmaceuticals, will be eliminated immediately or gradually. The FTA also covers tariffs, regulations, services, government procurement, and e-commerce. Additionally, the two countries signed a space development cooperation agreement and agreed to jointly conduct lunar exploration.

The two countries normalized relations in 2020 through the "Abraham Accords," mediated by the former U.S. administration under Donald Trump. Bahrain and Morocco also joined this agreement.

According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, economic exchanges between the two countries have become active since normalization, with trade volume reaching $900 million (approximately 1.1 trillion won) last year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.