Day: September 7, 2022

ABU DHABI, Israel and the UAE are celebrating the second anniversary of the Abraham Accords signed in September 2020, which established diplomatic relations between both countries, on the backdrop of a host of bilateral deals, high-level visits and increasing trade and tourism, according to a top Israeli diplomat.

“I arrived here ten and half months ago [as the first Israeli Ambassador to the UAE] and [since then] we had two visits of our President, two visits of our Prime Minister, around 20 visits of our ministers to the UAE. We signed 20 agreements, including the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA),” Amir Hayek, who took charge as the envoy in October 2021, told the Emirates News Agency (WAM).

450,000 Israeli tourists in UAE in two years

“We are seeing great results. We can be proud of the results in trade, tourism, and investments; and we are just at the beginning,” he affirmed in an exclusive interview at the Israeli Embassy in Abu Dhabi.

Revealing that an estimated 450,000 Israeli tourists visited the UAE during the past two years, Hayek asserted that tourism is one of the most important tools in bilateral relations as it strengthens the people-to-people ties.

“We are talking about G to G [government-to-government] and B-to-B [business-to-business] links. We need to concentrate on P-to-P [people-to- people] ties that will bring the most important ingredients of the relations,” the ambassador said. This will help people know each other’s culture and it is the natural way for people to work together, he suggested.

New relation as a marathon

Describing the Israel-UAE interactions as a marathon, the diplomat said, “I think that it is like a baby, already two years old, and he can speak three languages and run a marathon. I will say it again and again, this is a marathon. It is not a 200-metre sprint. We came to build solid ground, solid relations, bring results and we have to be very, very successful.”

Hayek expressed his hope that such a success will attract other countries in the region “to come to the table” [Abraham Accords]. The US-brokered deal between the UAE and Israel on 15th September 2020 has already paved the way for Israel establishing diplomatic relations with three more Arab nations – Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan.

The Abraham Accords represents “a state of mind” of cooperation and of a new Middle East that offers a better future for children in the region, the envoy emphasised.

Expo 2020, I2U2

The Expo 2020 Dubai helped further consolidate the bilateral ties, the ambassador said. “Expo was a magnet that brought many people to Dubai. And when they came, they saw not only Expo, they saw the UAE also. The Expo sold the power of the UAE, the beauty of the UAE and the tolerance of the UAE for us Israelis. I would like to congratulate the Emirati leadership, the Emirati management of Expo; it was one of the greatest events I ever saw.”

Talking about the I2U2 Group comprising of the UAE, the U.S., India and Israel, which launched two important projects on food corridor and green energy, Hayek said it is just the beginning. “We have a long list and we will do it. Because the economy will move it.” The economic feasibility of such projects and determination of the leadership of the four nations will “push them forward,” he added.

Climate tech cooperation

On the bilateral cooperation in global and regional climate action in the wake of two upcoming global events – COP27 [the 27th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)] in Cairo in November 2022, and COP 28 in the UAE in 2023, the envoy said industries in both countries can work together to check climate change.

“I am telling everyone in Israel that the UAE would like to cooperate with Israeli companies under the headline of impact. When I am talking about impact, I am talking about all the industries that can have an impact here in the UAE. They can have impact in the region and all over all over the world. One of them is environment.”

He explained that the bilateral cooperation in food-tech, agrotechnology, renewable energy, water, education, health, especially telemedicine, can make the world better. “We will cooperate for that.”

Source: Emirates News Agency

ABU DHABI, Israel-UAE bilateral trade has witnessed a 117 percent increase during the first half of 2022 compared to the same period last year, a top Israeli diplomat told the Emirates News Agency (WAM), predicting that the UAE will be among Israel’s top ten trading partners in the next two-three years.

Amir Hayek, the Israeli Ambassador to the UAE, also said the UAE can be an important growth engine for Israeli industries because of the innovation infrastructure, and essential ingredients for business the Emirates offers.

The bilateral trade worth US$560 million [AED 2.06 billion] during the first six months of 2021 upsurged to US$1.214 billion [AED 4.46 billion] during the first half of 2022, a 117 percent increase, he revealed in an exclusive interview with WAM at the Israeli Embassy in Abu Dhabi on the occasion of the second anniversary of the Abraham Accords signed in September 2020 that established diplomatic relations between Israel and the UAE.

7 months of 2022 trade surpasses 2021 figure

The bilateral trade during the first seven months of 2022 to the tune of US$1.407 billion has already surpassed US$1.221 billion trade during the whole 2021, the envoy said.

“So, it is a huge number. It puts the UAE in the 19th rank among the countries that Israel is doing business with. By the end of this year, the UAE’s rank will be between 15 or 16 and I believe that in the next 2-3 years we will see the UAE in the top ten countries that Israel is trading with,” the diplomat predicted, saying “which is beautiful”.

According to the UAE Ministry of Economy, from September 2020 to March 2022, the UAE-Israel non-oil trade surpassed US$2.5 billion, while it reached US$1.06 billion in the first three months of 2022 – five times the total from the same period in 2021.

Five factors make UAE a growth engine for Israeli industries

“I am telling my Israeli friends that the UAE can be an important growth engine for the Israeli economy and industry. We have five reasons for that,” Hayek pointed out.

“The first one is the UAE has an innovation infrastructure that can fit our innovation infrastructure, and together, one plus one can be eleven [1+1=11]. Second, they can find here capital of any kind. If they are looking for partners, sometimes they are not looking for partners, but if they are looking for partners, this is the place to find them. If you have a good company, you can find the right partner and right investment here,” he explained.

Third, businesses can find here people of any kind, from carpenters to machine engineers and software engineers, the envoy pointed out. “And if you cannot find them here, it is easy to bring them here.”

The fourth reason is availably of raw materials. The UAE is a global trade centre that offers materials at a fair price, the ambassador said.

The fifth factor is access to new markets. “These five ingredients combined; you can find them only here. Therefore, I think the UAE will be a growth engine for the Israeli economy, the Israeli industries and for the relations between both countries,” Hayek emphasised.

CEPA with UAE – Israel’s fastest negotiation

The ambassador said the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) signed with the UAE on May 31st, 2022, after 6-month long negotiations, which was the “fastest negotiations Israel did” for any similar free trade agreement with other countries. “Because we had great partners in the Emirati side.”

The CEPA will come into force in the next few months. “But you know, economy is a matter of expectations. So, when businesspeople see and hear about the CEPA, they would like to cooperate because they see and understand that there is a solid ground of agreements that can back up their efforts in economic cooperation,” he pointed out.

According to the UAE Ministry of Economy, the UAE-Israel CEPA is expected to advance bilateral trade beyond US$10 billion within five years and add US$1.9 billion to the UAE’s GDP within the same period. Total UAE exports are expected to increase 0.5 percent by 2030.

Source: Emirates News Agency

ABU DHABI, The Fatima bint Mubarak Initiative for Women, Peace and Security, launched its 3rd Women, Peace and Security training programme with 140 participating cadets from Arab, Asian and African countries.

The trainees came from the Middle East and Africa, the UAE, Yemen (Socotra), Jordan, Bahrain, Liberia, Gambia, Senegal, Niger, Chad, Kenya, South Sudan, Tanzania, Mauritania, and Pakistan. The training will take place at the Khawla bint Al Azwar Military School in Abu Dhabi.

The trainees were received at the Fatima bint Mubarak Centre for Women, Peace and Security, which was inaugurated by H.H. Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the General Women’s Union (GWU), President of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood, and Supreme Chairwoman of the Family Development Foundation (FDF), “Mother of the Nation”, as part of the Fatima bint Mubarak Initiative for Women, Peace and Security.

The nine-week programme, organised by the General Women’s Union, in cooperation with the Ministry of Defence, and in coordination with UN Women, seeks to achieve the strategic objectives of Security Council Resolution 1325 by increasing the number of qualified women working in the military, peacekeeping and peacebuilding. It comprises seven weeks of intensive military training and two weeks of peacebuilding and peacekeeping training.

During her visit to the UAE, and ahead of her participation as a keynote speaker at the International Women, Peace and Security Conference in Abu Dhabi set to be held from 8th to 10th September, Dr. Sima Bahous, Executive Director of UN Women, praised the efforts of the UAE in empowering women in the military sector at a meeting with the General Women’s Union. The parties also discussed how the Women, Peace and Security Agenda can play a vital role in advancing women’s leadership.

Also during her visit to the General Women’s Union, Dr. Bahous met the third cohort participating in the Women, Peace and Security training programme and encouraged them to make the most of their experiences in the programme and use their skills to help achieve security, stability and development for societies around the world.

“The UAE has been a strong champion and a prominent partner in making progress on the Sustainable Development Goals, especially Goal 5, Gender Equality. In this regard, I commend the efforts of H.H. Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak to empower Women in Peace and Security, by providing training and capacity building opportunities for women from the Middle East, Africa and Asia in military and peacekeeping. UN Women is proud to be a partner in these efforts that advance the Women, Peace and Security Agenda,” Dr. Bahous stated.

On this occasion, Noura Al Suwaidi, Secretary-General of the General Women’s Union, said, “Welcoming the third cohort of trainees under the Fatima bint Mubarak Initiative for Women, Peace and Security confirms the continued success of the training programme, thanks to the support of our wise leadership and the vision of H.H. Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak and her continuous efforts to achieve a breakthrough in supporting the participation of women in all sectors, especially in peace and security. We hope that this training contributes to these women’s meaningful career development in military, security and peacebuilding and gives real opportunities for personal and professional growth.”

The launch of the third training programme coincides with Abu Dhabi’s hosting of the International Conference on Women, Peace and Security, which will see the participation of international decision-makers, senior officials, diplomats, and advocates of women in peace and security from the Arab region and the world.

A total of 497 women were trained under the Sheikha Fatima Women, Peace and Security Initiative. The first cohort of 134 Arab women was trained in Abu Dhabi in January 2019, and the second comprising 223 women from 11 African, Asian and Arab countries, was trained in January 2020.

The Fatima bint Mubarak Women, Peace and Security Initiative activates a memorandum of understanding signed in 2018 between the UAE’s Ministry of Defence, the General Women’s Union and the United Nations, at the headquarters of the UAE Mission to the United Nations in New York with the presence of H.H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

Source: Emirates News Agency

DUBAI, Dubai CommerCity, the first-of-its-kind free zone specialising in digital commerce, part of the Dubai Integrated Economic Zones Authority (DIEZ), today unveiled a new corporate identity aligned with its new strategic direction, which pivots on transforming its operations and services to digital commerce.

This comes in line with the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, to consolidate Dubai’s status as the capital of digital commerce.

H.H. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of DIEZ, said, “The strategic transformation we are witnessing today in Dubai CommerCity’s shift towards digital commerce comes in line with the strategic economic directives and plans of Dubai and the UAE. It will result in a new phase of leadership, sustainability and growth based on knowledge, innovation and future technological applications. It will enhance the competitiveness of the UAE and consolidate its leading position as a global centre for the most prosperous digital economy.”

“Our swift response and ability to adopt proactive solutions in the industry demonstrates Dubai CommerCity’s exceptional capabilities in terms of its integration with local and global digital economy systems, human resources, and advanced technologies. With these key assets, the free zone provides exceptional solutions that contribute to attracting fast-growing business sectors to Dubai.

“The emirate plays a leading role in shaping and building the future. It has established its position as an innovation hub and a driver for business development, expansion and integration in the global supply chain using future technology. This supports achieving the objectives of the Digital Economy Strategy through enhancing the digital economy’s contribution to the UAE’s GDP for at least the next ten years,” he added.

Dubai CommerCity acknowledged its partners – Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA), Dubai Digital Authority, and Emirates NBD – who supported its strategic transformation by developing the free zone’s digital infrastructure and system for digital commerce.

The free zone seeks to strengthen its efforts to increase Dubai’s contribution to the country’s digital economy, which amounts to 4.3 percent of the UAE’s GDP. The free zone also aims to enhance the contribution of Dubai, and the UAE, to the global digital economy, which is expected to reach US$800 billion by 2030.

As part of a partnership, TDRA will provide the free zone with various initiatives, platforms, and digital tools to enhance its operations. Dubai CommerCity has also collaborated with Dubai Digital Authority to develop a comprehensive infrastructure of information technology, data, digital transformation, and cybersecurity within the free zone, making it one of the most advanced, modern, and efficient services.

In addition, Dubai CommerCity’s strategic partnership with Emirates NBD aims to provide the free zone’s customers with an integrated portfolio of banking services based on the latest advanced digital platforms and applications, to enhance their operations and support them in growing and expanding their presence in the region.

Dubai CommerCity has been built over an area of 2.1 million square feet at a cost of AED3.2 billion to provide support to new and existing digital commerce companies in the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia.

Source: Emirates News Agency