Israel, UAE strengthen diplomatic ties with first strategic commercial agreement

After Israel and UAE announced normalisation of diplomatic relations, the two Middle East countries have now taken the next step towards strengthening their bilateral ties with corporate deals. According to reports, firms from Israel and the UAE have recently signed a deal to partner on COVID-19 research and testing.

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The next step for the two countries

As per reports, the agreement was signed between UAE Apex National Investment company and Israel's TeraGroup. Both companies signed a strategic commercial agreement regarding COVID-19 research and virus testing.

This deal between the two firms is the first of its kind after the two nations announced the move to normalise their diplomatic relations and is a stepping stone towards further partnerships in the realm of trade and economy.

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According to reports, the COVID-19 research deal was signed in Abu Dhabi during a press conference and comes just days after the countries announced that they had reached an agreement on diplomatic ties with the help of the United States.

The foreign Ministers of both countries recently opened a dialogue with each other on August 16. Israel's Gabi Ashkenazi after the call is reported to have stated that he and his UAE counterpart, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed had agreed to meet in-person soon in order to sign agreements pertaining to investment, tourism, direct flights, security, telecommunications and other issues. The United Arab Emirates has now become the third country in the Middle East to establish diplomatic relation with Israel, after Egypt and Jordan.

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