The United Arab Emirates (UAE) & Israel have signed a customs agreement to facilitate trade and economic cooperation between the two countries.
The agreement was signed by Mr. Mohamed Al Khaja, Ambassador of UAE to the State of Israel, and Mr. Eli Cohen, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Israel, in the presence of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Prime Minister’s office in Jerusalem.
The signing of this customs agreement will allow the UAE-Israel Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), signed in May 2022, to enter into force.
Mohamed Al Khaja Ambassador of UAE to Israel
“The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between the UAE and Israel will serve as a major engine to strengthen economic and commercial ties between the UAE and Israel. We expect the agreement to produce significant mutual economic benefits.”
The customs agreement aims to enable mutual assistance in ensuring the proper application of customs laws, accurately assessing customs and other tax fees on exports and imports, adjusting customs data, and preventing and investigating customs violations.
In 2022, the non-oil bilateral trade volume between the UAE and Israel reached over $2.5 billion. With the CEPA entering into force, the UAE and Israel expect the trade volume between them to increase significantly.
Recently, UAE companies have been actively investing in Israeli firms, allowing them to expand to the country and enhance bilateral ties. In January this year, EDGE group invested $14 million in Israel-based High Lander, the company behind Universal UTM, a drone-agnostic unmanned traffic management solution that provides the automation, coordination, and safety needed in increasingly crowded skies.
