Israel and UAE set to announce free trade agreement worth hundreds of millions

Israel is set to sign a free trade agreement with the United Arab Emirates, concluding months of negotiations in a deal set to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Israeli trade minister Orna Barbivai, who's travelling to Dubai to sign the agreement with Emirati ministers, said: "This is a visit of strategic importance to the economic relations between the State of Israel and the United Arab Emirates, in which I will sign the free trade agreement and promote a number of economic partnerships.

"Together we will remove barriers and promote comprehensive trade and new technologies."

The accord with the UAE is estimated to cover as much as 96 per cent of the trade between the two countries which last year was worth over £700m.