Israel link and the United Arab Emiratessaid Friday they had agreed on the terms of a free trade agreement to boostcommercial relations following their normalisation of ties.
Israel link described as “historic” thedeal abolishing customs duties on “95 percent of the products” exchangedbetween the Jewish state and Gulf Arab country.
The 2020 normalisation deal reached between the two countries was one of aseries of US-brokered agreements known as the Abraham Accords, and tradebetween them last year totalled some $900 million dollars, according toIsraeli figures.
Talks for a free trade agreement began in November and were concludedFriday after four rounds of negotiations, including last month in Egyptbetween Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and the UAElink de facto leader, Abu Dhabi Crown PrinceMohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan.
“The good relations forged between our two countries are strengthened todayby this free trade agreement, which will significantly improve economiccooperation for the benefit of the citizens of both countries,” Bennettsaid.
The deal was now “ready for signature”, the UAElink Minister of State for Foreign TradeThani al-Zeyoudi said.
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“This milestone deal will build on the historic Abraham Accords and cementone of the world’s most important and promising emerging tradingrelationships,” Zeyoudi said.
Israel link this week hosted a summit oftop diplomats from the United States and three Arab states — the UAElink, Bahrain and Morocco — with which it hasnormalised ties since 2020.
Sudan also agreed to normalise ties with Israellink, although it has yet to finalise adeal. -APP/AFP
