November Special Edition 2021

5 Throughout history, the Middle East has been a center of innovation and progress. Today, with its vast natural resources, aspirational societies, and growing young populations, the Middle East is set to move forward and seize new opportunities. At the heart of this is the Abraham Accords, signed between Israel, the UAE and Bahrain on September 15, 2020, at the White House, and later joined by Sudan and Morocco. One year on now, howmuch progress have we seen?We speak to themost visible and prominent lawyers,whose clients are at the forefront and seizing the initiative. After a year, thenormalizationof relations has already seen apositive impact on the economies of the countries involved. Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics recently reportedoverUSD610million inbusinesswith theUAEbetweenJanuaryandJune this year while UAE seeks USD 1 trillion in economic activity by 2031, according to a report in Reuters. Theopeningof theDubai Expo2020–whichwaseventuallyopenedonOctober 1, 2021,andscheduleduntil theendofMarch2022- isexpectedtobe the launchpad for USD 3 billion in trade by 2023-4. Thus far, according to a report in Gulf News, the bulk of trade between the countries – with similar GDPs of appx. USD 400 billion – has involved imports from the Gulf’s logistics and re-export hub, including plastics, electronics, auto parts and gems. Israel’s advanced technology and innovation combined with the UAE’s capital investment have created a leading example for successful business models that other partners could follow. US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken has emphasized expanding the Abraham Accords, fostering Israel’s ties with the UAE and Bahrain as well as Morocco, Sudan and Kosovo; deepening Israel’s existing relationships with Egypt and Jordan; and encouragingmore countries to join the Abraham Accords. Recently, Israel's Ambassador to the UAE Amir Hayek told an Israeli business delegation to Abu Dhabi and local business leaders that there will soon be a regional Free Trade Agreement. Fleur Hassan-Nahoum, Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem and co-founder of the UAE-Israel Business Council (UIBC) told us: “What is great is that due to the Abraham Accords, we can strategize multilaterally, not just bilaterally. Any agreement can be part of a Middle US favors expansion of Abraham Accords