Israel-UAE trade reaches $700 million

Bilateral trade between Israel and the United Arab Emirates has reached $700 million in value since the Abraham Accords, an Israeli diplomat said today.

Israel’s Consul-General in Dubai Ilan Sztulman Starosta said that trade has totaled this figure in spite of coronavirus-related travel restrictions to Israel.

“It only proves that once the doors are opened, we are going to have a surge of more business going back and forth,” said Starosta, as reported by the official Emirates News Agency.

Israel and the UAE established full diplomatic and economic relations in September 2020 as part of the Trump administration-brokered Abraham Accords. Since then, entities in both countries have signed a flurry of cooperation agreements aimed at boosting business.

The dollar value in trade conducted between the two states has steadily increased since the Abraham Accords were signed. The trade value was more than $272 million by January. By June, it was $675 million, according to Emirates News Agency.

In October, Israel, the UAE, India and the United States formed a joint economic forum.

The two countries have also recently expanded relations in other ways. An Emirati military leader attended an air force drill in Israel last month.