UAE Indian diaspora may be a bridge between companies in India and Israel
From high-tech entrepreneurs seeking sales to tourists who want to experience the formerly forbidden, Israelis have been flooding into the United Arab Emirates to take advantage of new business and leisure opportunities.
Israeli-Emirati activity this week surged to one of its highest points since the August 13 announcement of the Abraham Accords that officially established relations between the two countries. Hundreds of Israelis came for GITEX Technology Week, the annual computer and electronics show and conference in Dubai. Others arrived to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, which starts Thursday at sundown, or to get away from Israel’s partial lockdown to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Still, others were there for cultural gatherings or academic training.
“With so many tourists coming since flights began last month, the government-owned airline Flydubai is adding a third daily Tel Aviv-Dubai flight starting on December 10. The airline is the first from the UAE to offer direct flights between Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport and Dubai International. Up to 15,000 Israelis are expected to travel this month to Dubai, the UAE’s second-largest city, which has an easy e-visa process for passengers from the Jewish state. There is no quarantine for visitors.”.
Tal Bar-Or, chief executive officer of Octopus artificial intelligence, is also in talks with UAE government entities about the company’s control-and-command platform that unites facial-recognition, video-management, and other systems. The platform is being used in 28 countries including Singapore, the United States, and Thailand.
Bar-Or said- “We have to be here and understand the business culture before we start to sell”.
There has been great interest in the platform in the Gulf region, he told The Media Line.
“First, we have to be here and understand the business culture before we start to sell,” Bar-Or said. “We have unique tech offerings, but we need to bring value. The UAE especially is a very mature and sophisticated market, and they’re really looking for high-end solutions here.”
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“The roughly 9.5 million residents of the UAE include 2.6 million Indians, the largest non-Emirati group. Many of the world’s richest Indians call the UAE their second home, if not their first.”.
Merzi Sodawaterwala, chairperson of the International Federation of Indo-Israel Chambers of Commerce, has been preparing to open the international headquarters in the UAE.
“The idea is now to take this strong community of diaspora Indians to Israeli companies,” he told The Media Line. The UAE is situated between India and Israel, making it a meeting point for businesses on both sides.
“We’ll be facilitating business and investment opportunities in areas such as scientific research, IT, agricultural and food security, health care and med tech and sustainabilty; industries where there is a synergy among the three countries,” Sodawaterwala said.
