DUBAI, 15 September 2021, (TON): The UAE economy minister said “the United Arab Emirates aims to raise the value of economic activity with Israel to more than $1 trillion in the next 10 years, hoping to work together on everything from healthcare to climate change and energy.”

The Gulf Arab state has signed dozens of memorandums of understanding with its new ally in the year since it became the first Arab state to normalise ties with Israel this century.

It was not immediately clear how the two countries expect to reach $1tr in economic activity in the next decade. Each country has a gross domestic product of roughly $400 billion.

He said “the UAE and Israel have between $600 million and $700m in bilateral trade, the minister, Abdulla Bin Touq Al Marri, told a virtual conference on Monday. Reaching that level in one year was “an achievement by itself.”

He said “we are looking to create over $1tr dollars of economic activity over the next decade.”

He added “they are moving into so many areas of economic opportunities.”

Israel says it expects $1bn in trade with the UAE by end-2021 and $3bn in three years, far below the UAE's $24bn of exports in 2019 to its top destination, Saudi Arabia.