Trade between Israel and the emirate of Dubai has already reached 1 billion dirham ($272 million), only five months after the normalization of ties between Israel and the United Arab Emirates in September, the Dubai media office reported over the weekend.

The office said that two-thirds of the sum involves exports and one third involves imports, with the main exports being diamonds, perfumes, lubricants, smartphones, engine parts, and diamonds and the main imports being diamonds, electronic devices, including medical tech, and fruits and vegetables.

Rabbi Dr. Elie Abadie, senior rabbi of the Jewish Council of the Emirates (JCE), and Alex Peterfreund, co-founder and cantor of the JCE, placed a mezuzah on the new representative office of the Israel Diamond Exchange in the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) last week.

Below are photos and a video of Israeli fruits and vegetables being sold in a Dubai supermarket.

שוק הפירות והירקות בדובאי מתקשט @DrAlsarrah pic.twitter.com/F4j3NgQD3b

— roi kais • روعي كايس • רועי קייס (@kaisos1987) November 14, 2020

באיחוד האמירויות כבר מוכרים בטטה ישראלית או כפי שהם מגדירים "תפוח אדמה מתוק" . המחיר לקילו במטבע המקומי = 11.72 ש"ח. בארץ זה סביב ה-8 ש"ח לק"ג. pic.twitter.com/V5oDMYYUIL

— אינטלי טיימס – إنتل تايمز – Intelli Times (@IntelliTimes) November 7, 2020

https://t.co/dQDU81oiri

— roi kais • روعي كايس • רועי קייס (@kaisos1987) November 9, 2020

Trade between the UAE and Israel is projected to reach $4 billion in the coming years, with some estimating as high as $6.5 billion – the equivalent of 5% of Israel’s current total trade and 1% of the UAE’s total trade, according to Sultan bin Sulayem, Chairman of Dubai’s Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation.

Eitan Na’eh, the new Israeli ambassador to the UAE, says there are tremendous opportunities for Israeli entrepreneurs in the Emirates.

“The UAE is an opening to a huge market, huge ports, with very large free trade zones,” he said. “There are huge advantages for Israeli trade, be it imports and also exports – for lowering the cost of living.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)