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UAE businessman calls for Israel to invest in his country

February 15, 2020 at 1:25 pm

Burj Khalifa, the tallest tower in the world, in downtown Dubai, UAE, on 29 March 2018 [AFP PHOTO/GIUSEPPE CACACE/Getty]

Amidst unprecedented normalisation of ties with Israel, prominent United Arab Emirates businessman, Ibrahim Ajami, has called for Israeli investors to invest in his country, The New Khalij news website reported on Friday.

Ajami’s remarks came during a conference held in Abu Dhabi and attended by Israeli investors.

“We are open for business in the region and we need to welcome all sorts of investors,” Ajami affirmed, according to CNBC.

Ajami then directed his comments to the Israeli investor, Aviad Eyal, co-founder of Entree Capital, a venture firm focused on Israel, with additional operations in the US and UK, adding:

We need to welcome investors, even investors that are very active in Israel and Israeli investors, that would ultimately come and see opportunity in the region. I don’t see why we should not do that.

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“We as Mubadala invest in Europe and in the US, and there are exceptional Israeli management teams as part of these companies we invest in,” Ajami continued, according to CNBC. “So that’s the game that we need to play – if we want to be serious about tech, that’s what we have to do.”

The Israeli Foreign Ministry praised Ajami’s remarks and retweeted them on its official Arabic twitter page.

Ajami is the CEO of the Advanced Technology Investment Company and head of ventures for Abu Dhabi wealth fund Mubadala Investment Company.

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