Israel's first official business delegation landed in Dubai on Sunday.
The delegation comprises the heads of business organizations in Israel, including Chairman of the Israeli Export Institute Adiv Baruch, president of the Federation of the Israeli Chambers of Commerce Uriel Lynn, President of the Manufacturers' Association Dr. Ron Tomer, and Chair of the Israeli Farmers Federation Avshalom Villan.
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The delegation aims to lay the groundwork for the accelerated development of cooperation between the business sectors in the two countries, as well as to promote free trade activity between Israel and Gulf states, East Africa and South Asia through the UAE's unique trade zones.
Members of the delegation noted that they estimate that the annual volume of trade between the countries could reach billions of dollars. They noted that and most Israeli exports to the Emirates are likely to involve the high tech and cyber industries, as well as the fields of medical equipment, agrotech, solar energy, water desalination, pharmaceuticals and more.
Also on Sunday, the first flight carrying Israeli tourists to the United Arab Emirates landed in the city-state of Dubai, the latest sign of the normalization deal reached between the two nations.
FlyDubai flight No. FZ8194 landed at Dubai International Airport just after 5:40 p.m., bringing the tourists to the skyscraper-studded city after a nearly three-hour trip. The low-cost carrier had sent one of its Boeing 737s to Ben-Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv earlier Sunday morning to pick up the passengers.
The flight flew across Saudi Arabia and then over the waters of the Persian Gulf to reach the UAE, a federation of seven sheikhdoms also home to Abu Dhabi.
"There is no doubt that the normalization between Israel and the UAE will bring good things and benefit to the Arabs inside Israel. There is no doubt about that," said Hussein Suleiman, the head of an Arab businessmen's delegation on board the flight. "We are supportive of this deal and of the normalization, and we are here today to normalize the normalization in reality."
The arrival of tourists comes as Dubai in particular tries to revive its vital tourism industry amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The UAE and Israel have agreed to launch regular commercial flights between their countries soon, while other recent flights have carried business and governmental delegations.
FlyDubai plans to begin its flights to Tel Aviv later this month. The airline described Sunday's flight as a "commercial charter flight" for the incoming tourists, without elaborating.
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