UAE, Israel review economic ties, agree on promoting tourism cooperation

The United Arab Emirates’ Minister of State for Entrepreneurship and SMEs Ahmad Belhoul al-Falasi met with Israel’s Tourism Minister Yoel Razvozov at the opening of the Israeli Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai to review economic ties, the official Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported Saturday.

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The two sides reportedly discussed the prospects of further growing business opportunities across different sectors, accelerating non-oil trade exchanges and diversifying bilateral investments in the post-pandemic phase, WAM said.

“The UAE-Israeli relations are steadily growing, and we’re determined to further develop them over the coming period,” al-Falasi said.

He added that Expo 2020 Dubai represents a valuable opportunity for the Israeli businesses to benefit from the opportunities up for grabs during the global fair.

Visitors are pictured in the Israel pavilion during a media tour ahead of the opening of the Dubai Expo 2020 in the Gulf Emirate on September 27, 2021. (File photo: AFP)

WAM reported that non-oil trade exchanges between the UAE and Israel amounted to $700 million during the first year that followed the signing of the Abraham Accords Peace Agreement.

“The UAE tourist and hotel establishments have secured high occupancy rates over the past period, overtaking 10 of the world’s most-visited tourist destinations,” the UAE minister said.

For his part Razvozov said: “On the occasion of the first anniversary of signing the Abraham Accords Peace Agreement, we affirm the impressive success achieved over the past period by the two nations specially at the tourist level.”

“Despite the movement restrictions associated with the pandemic, the tourist exchanges between the two nations witnessed significant momentum, with around 250,000 Israeli tourists having visited the UAE over the past period,” he added.

WAM quoted the Israeli minister saying he expects “cooperation in this field to further grow over the coming period,” adding that the tourist sector is a mainstay for the development of economic relations between the two countries.

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