Can technology move the Middle East peace process ahead? Israel and the United Arab Emirates think it can. On Monday, the UAE's first ambassador to Israel, Mohamed al Khaja, visited the headquarters of the Start-Up Nation Central nonprofit organization in Tel Aviv to kick off a joint task force that seeks to collaborate on innovation and entrepreneurship, with the ultimate goal of bringing people together, sharing idea, and generating economic value.
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Al Khaja met with CEO of Start-Up Nation Central, Professor Eugene Kandel, to discuss areas of possible collaboration as well as possibilities for joint events and conferences. The teams from the Emirati Embassy and Start-Up Nation Central also discussed ways of connecting Emirati and Israeli companies and entrepreneurs, especially in the fields of fintech, agri-food tech, education, cyber, education, digital health, energy, petrochimicals, cleantech and sustainability.
As a result of the meeting, both aides agreed to leverage the 1,000-member UAE-IL Tech Zone community, launched in December 2020, as a part of the new relationship.
Al Khaja said that in terms of technology cooperation, there was "an avenue of opportunities between the UAE and Israel just waiting to be harnessed.
"We are here to identify what sectors can prosper in the field of technological innovation and bridge together key partnerships that will thrive in the world market with contagious success," al Khaja said, adding that "Israel's tech innovation ecosystem coupled with the future forward drive of the UAE government, are essential elements to accelerating the success of incubators through the formation of international partnerships."
Kandel said that Start-Up National Central was "proud to partner with the ambassador and the UAE government.
"We are excited to play a major role in taking advantage of the historic opportunity presented by the Abraham Accords to connect UAE and Israel around technological innovation and create an immense value," Kandel added.
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