TEL AVIV, Sept 7 (Reuters) – Bahrain aims to step up cooperation with Israel on technology to help manage water and combat climate change, as part of a broader boost to ties between the two countries, the ambassador said. the Israeli ambassador said on Thursday.
Bahrain, along with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), signed an agreement brokered by the United States in September 2020 to establish formal relations with Israel under the so-called Abraham Accords. Sudan and Morocco have followed suit, and negotiations with Saudi Arabia are continuing.
The UAE has benefited the most so far, with Israelis flocking to Dubai and bilateral trade between Israel and the UAE topping $2.5 billion in 2022 and $1.85 billion in the first seven months of 2023. reached $1 million.
Trade with Bahrain was just $8.5 million in the same seven months.
“It’s not going to happen overnight,” Khaled Yousef Al Jarahma, Bahrain’s ambassador to Israel, said at the Startup Nation Central conference in Tel Aviv to mark the third anniversary of the agreement. He added that Israelis often focus on Dubai and Abu Dhabi rather than Bahrain, but some have problems coming to Israel.
Israel officially opened an embassy in Bahrain on Monday, and ministers agreed to increase direct flights, tourism, trade volumes and investment. Also this week, the Israeli Securities Authority signed a fintech collaboration agreement with the Central Bank of Bahrain.
Mr. Aljarahma said that since the relationship is still new, it is important to cooperate in as many areas as possible, but listed a few in particular.
“Agrotech is a very important technology that we are looking at, and technology that deals with net-zero carbon emissions will be another one.”
He pointed to collaboration with Israel’s Sheba Medical Center, where Bahraini doctors work in Israel, and Sheba aims to open an innovation center in Bahrain.
600 Israeli and Bahraini companies recently connected in a project to hire Bahraini workers to fill jobs in Israel’s rapidly growing technology sector.
Reporting by Stephen Scheer; Editing by Alexandra Hudson
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