“We feel optimistic,” said Tzachi Cohen, head of the business division at Israel’s Bank Hapoalim, which has recently expanded its foreign currency and import-export support services to help Israelis increase business and trade with the UAE. “The State of Israel and the UAE are amongst the top leading countries with high vaccination rates, and the ratification of the UAE-Israel Abraham Accords represents the onset of a new era.”
About 52% of the UAE’s total population and about 62% of Israel’s total population have received at least one vaccine dose, according to Our World in Data, allowing both economies to reopen faster than other places around the world.
Most of the NIS 900 million worth of trade since the accords were signed has consisted of Israel exporting food and hi-tech products to the UAE, while importing commodities and metals, according to Bank Hapoalim’s data. Israel’s imports made up about 60% of total trade between the two, Cohen said during a joint online event sponsored by Bank Hapoalim and the UAE government agency Dubai Exports that highlighted opportunities for Israeli businesses to import products via the UAE. Israeli businesses that attended the session will have exclusive opportunities, organized by Bank Hapoalim’s business division and Dubai Exports, to meet with Emirati counterparts to explore trade and other partnerships.
In addition to trade, many other business deals have been signed between the two countries, Bank Hapoalim, which holds about 25% of the banking market for foreign trade deals in Israel, aims to help more businesses find opportunities to work with the UAE.
“We have recently established a new premium group specializing in complex foreign trade as a one-stop shop to serve all of our customers’ needs,” Cohen said. “We offer end-to-end services for all import-export transactions.”
Representatives of several UAE-based businesses and organizations, who also spoke at Bank Hapoalim’s online event, said they, too, were eager to increase trade with Israel.
“The whole business community in the UAE is truly excited about the prospects of improving on the trade relationships,” said Osama Hassan, Dubai-based managing partner and head of the Middle East division at international law firm Taylor Wessing. The UAE’s strong economy, advanced infrastructure and government services that help foreigners to set up trade, investment and other business deals, will provide many opportunities for Israelis.
“As a country, the UAE has a lot to offer,” said Dinesh Dhingra, group chief support and service officer at Jashanmal Group, a Gulf-based wholesale distributor of consumer goods. “Joint progress has been happening in various industry verticals.”
The new economic relations with Israel come as the UAE’s trade remains strong, totaling about 1.18 trillion dirhams, or NIS 971 billion, in 2020, according to Dubai Exports.
“2020 has marked great achievements despite the pandemic situation,” said Abdulrahman Alhosany, export services director of Dubai Exports.
The country aims to double its trade by 2027.
“There is a lot of push from the government,” to increase trade and develop the country’s hi-tech sector, especially in the field of e-commerce, which accounted for 26% of gross domestic product growth in 2020, Dhingra said, adding that Israel also plays a large role in the global e-commerce sector, through cybersecurity, machine learning and other technology. “This gives a lot of weight to the UAE as a partner,” Dhingra said. “Israeli tech innovations can also help UAE business compete at a global level, especially in the US and European markets.”
Dubai-based Kimoha Entrepreneurs FZCO, a company that produces baggage tags for airlines, receipt paper for ATM machines and other paper products, is among those looking for partnerships with Israeli tech companies.
“We are definitely looking for a technology partner from Israel so we can grow,” said Vinesh Bhimani, managing director of Kimoha, which was the first UAE-based company to import a shipping container of products from Israel.
Israeli companies can also use the UAE to reach other countries in the region and beyond through the strong Dubai-based re-export sector, which makes up about one-third of the country’s trade.
“There is access to an unlimited number of markets,” Alhosany said.