UAE, Israeli companies sign 'strategic commercial agreement' on coronavirus R&D (updated)
15/08/2020 22:15
(Adds context and detail)
DUBAI, Aug 16 (Reuters) - The Emirati APEX National
Investment company signed a "strategic commercial agreement"
with Israel's Tera Group to cooperate on research and
development related to COVID-19, including a testing device, the
UAE's state news agency WAM said late on Saturday.
The deal "is considered the first business to inaugurate
trade, economy and effective partnerships between the Emirati
and Israeli business sectors, for the benefit of serving
humanity by strengthening research and studies on the novel
Coronavirus," WAM quoted APEX's chairman Khalifa Yousef Khoury
as saying.
The agreement was signed at a press conference in Abu Dhabi,
coming soon after Israel and the UAE announced an agreement on
Thursday that will lead to a full normalization of diplomatic
relations between the two states. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2FF1DE
"The United Arab Emirates and Israel will immediately expand
and accelerate cooperation regarding the treatment of and the
development of a vaccine for the coronavirus," the two countries
said on Thursday in a joint statement.
U.S. President Donald Trump helped broker the deal, under
which Israel agreed to suspend its planned annexation of areas
of the occupied West Bank.
Delegations from Israel and the United Arab Emirates will
meet in the coming weeks to sign agreements regarding
investment, tourism, direct flights, security,
telecommunications and other issues, the joint statement said.
In June, the UAE had said two private companies from the
United Arab Emirates and two Israeli companies would work
together on medical projects, including ones to combat the new
coronavirus. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2E25NT
(Reporting by Nayera Abdallah; Writing by Nafisa Eltahir;
Editing by Daniel Wallis)
((Nafisa.Eltahir@thomsonreuters.com; +971 56 226 1754;))