Israel Eyes Commercial Mission to Lift #UAE Trade to $500 Million - Bloomberg

Israel Eyes Commercial Mission to Lift UAE Trade to $500 Million - Bloomberg:

Israel aims to open a commercial mission in its eventual embassy in the United Arab Emirates to help lift its exports to the country to as much as $500 million after their landmark agreement to normalize ties.

“We need to meet them, we need to talk to them and see what they think,” Ohad Cohen, head of Israel’s Foreign Trade Administration within the Ministry of Economy, said in an interview. The goal will be to have many bilateral frameworks with the UAE, he said.

The Economy Ministry is targeting commerce of $300 million to $500 million, and a similar level of trade and investment coming into Israel, according to an Israeli official, who requested anonymity because the estimates aren’t public. That would place the UAE on par with countries like Poland and Vietnam among Israel’s trade partners.

At the moment, Israel exports goods worth just $300,000 a year to the UAE, a figure that probably underestimates the true value of the deals.