Jason: Welcome everybody. My name is Jason Salztman. I'm a partner at Gowling WLG. I practice corporate finance and securities law in our Toronto office and I, together with my colleague Susannah Fink in our UK office, co-lead our Israel Desk. Our Israel Desk is a multi-disciplinary practice and represents Israel companies with their global transactions and other legal needs across our international platform when doing business abroad. Our Israel Desk recently received multiple accolades in the 2020 edition of Legally Israel 100. At the bottom of your screen you're going to see a Q&A button. Please feel free to send us questions throughout the course of this webinar. Initially I'm going to send this over to my friend, Oded Orgil, who is the President of the Canada Israel Chamber of Commerce to say a few words.
Oded: Good afternoon everybody. Jason, thank you very much. First of all, on behalf of the Canada Israel Chamber of Commerce's executive, the board of directors and board of governors, we're very excited to participate and co-sponsor this webinar. The Canada Israel Chamber of Commerce is a national organization whose overall mandate is to help promote bi-lateral trade between Canadian companies and Israeli companies. Like many people out there, we're very optimistic that the UAE-Israel Agreement will usher in a new era of trade in the Middle East and open many doors and we very much look forward to Canadian companies and individuals participation in this trade. As President of the Canada Israel Chamber of Commerce I look forward to working with these Canadian companies to help them provide Canadian knowledge and know how, further accelerate, promote global trade between UAE, Israel and help all countries around the world. It's a great pleasure for me to share the stage, as I've done in the past with Consul General Baram, an opportunity to here from our keynote speaker, Eliav Benjamin, as well as all our panelists. Finally, I'd be remiss if I didn't thank our co-sponsor, Gowling's Jason Salztman and the entire Gowling's team, for co-hosting this event and all their work in putting it together. So, Jason, thank you. I'm going to sit back and look forward to hearing the panelists and speakers, myself, just as a participant. I'll turn it back to you.
Jason: Thank you, again. So we are here today to discuss the potential business opportunities to arise from this historic peace agreement between each of Israel and UAE. The Abraham Accord was signed less than a month ago on September 16. It's an incredibly exciting time for these two countries to come together. Both countries have the leadership and the deep expertise in a number of key areas. Finally, these countries, and the people within these countries, have the opportunities to engage. I'd like to now pass the baton over to Galit Baram, who's a very special guest with us. Galit is the Israeli Consul General in Toronto and for Western Canada and I'd like Galit to introduce herself and make some opening remarks.
Galit: Thank you very much. Thank you, Jason and Oded, for organizing this event. For me, personally, after 25 years in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs these are very festive days, indeed, of new understandings and new agreements that are signed in the Middle East. I've been with the Ministry for 25 years now. I served in Cairo for 3 years. I was the Director of the Department for Palestinian Affairs and Regional Corporation also for 3 years and I've known my ups and downs of achievement and disappointment. When it comes to the Middle East it is very important for us Israeli Diplomats to see how we are perceived on the other side, in the Arab world. We all watched with excitement the Agreements which were signed at the White House with the United Arab Emirates, the understandings with the Bahrain, the new understandings that will lead to agreements on direct fights and tourism and business, free passage of ships and there so many opportunities that we need to explore right now. The Israel Export Institute, by the way, already started organizing webinars and workshops for thousands of Israelis who are interested in the market, in the Gulf States, and many Israelis recognize the great potential when it comes to cyber, to health, to agriculture and other fields. We're also building a Israeli Pavilion at Expo 2021 which will be held in Dubai. Definitely positive developments that are happening in the Middle East. This is important and of course there is a political aspect, geo-political aspect, regional aspect to the importance of moderate countries in the Middle East that create an axis of stability, of security and corporation in a very rough neighbourhood. Definitely positive developments and hopefully that will bring the Palestinians back to the negotiating table with Israel. A word about Eliav Benjamin, my colleague, we served together in Washington. He's one of Israel's best Diplomat. Highly experienced and I'm very glad that today we'll have an opportunity to hear from him. I would like to thank again the organizers and all the many people who are participating in attending this webinar. In these days of Corona, what can I wish you? Stay healthy. Thank you.
Jason: Thank you, Galit. Thank you for those words. I would now like to call on Eliav Benjamin, the Director of the Coordination Department of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to introduce himself and to speak about the Peace Agreements from an Israeli perspective.
Eliav: Okay. Just raise your hand if you can hear me, one of you. Okay. So good morning, Toronto, Canada. Good afternoon from here in Israel. Thank you, Galit. Thank you, Jason, Oded and Tony for putting this together. This really is a privilege for me and truthfully, I mean after Galit's words, maybe I shouldn't say anything else because anything I can say can just ruin the image. But nonetheless I'll try and go ahead and talk about a bit really the opportunities that arise from we're at now with the UAE and with Bahrain and, inshallah, as we say in our region, maybe with other countries as well. I think some of you mentioned this and Galit knows this also, definitely first hand, the Agreements that we call The Abraham Accords. Not just a Peace Agreement. It's Abraham Accords which sounds softer. It is softer. It's a people to people thing. It's very different than what we have for quite a few decades with Egypt and then with Jordan as well. The Agreements that have been ... these Peace Agreements and they're great in the strategic relations with both Egypt and Israel. But unfortunately it didn't really settle down and have a rippling effect on the societies and bringing about really real business. Real business opportunities and tourism and moving of commodities between the countries. This perhaps is one of the biggest differences and the biggest opportunities that we see with regards to what's going on in the UAE, in particular the Gulf in general, of course ... as well and we very much pushing for ... opportunities that will be speaking about in a minute when it comes to the region at large. Because it is definitely not just our hope but also our goal through these Agreements to have a more regional corporation and hopefully we will be able to get the Egyptians, the Jordanians and many others on board this wagon and this opportunity. So, I encourage all of us, as I encourage also the business community here in Israel, and as we encourage the business community in the Gulf to think not only on a bi-lateral level between point to point, between two countries, but to think also in the large scope of things back when we make some regional things happen together. Whether it's transferring the goods they made through land, through Jordan. Whether it's tri-lateral, or quad-lateral, corporation in various ways. These are things that I would encourage. Having said that we do need to remember that the Agreements with the Emirates and with the Israelis allow now for direct trade between our countries. Unlike what some business entities in Israel think, it doesn't necessarily allow for tomorrow morning for them to be able to start marketing their produce, if you want, in Saudi Arabia or Kuwait. Places which still have a ban on having formal ties and relations with Israel and we can't see ... made in Israel product in the shops in those places. These are the things that are still work in progress but we are working towards them. I'm saying this because both UAE, and even more so Bahrain, they're great, they're great places and they're is a huge amount of opportunities that I will go into now and elaborate upon, but a lot of business companies and business people see them also somewhat as a gateway to the great Middle East. Which by consensus this is true but in reality, at this point in time, we need to look at it in a limited way. Again, right now. But again the opportunities are there and those that put their foot in the door right now are definitely going to enjoy the fruits after a little later on.
Now, UAE in particular sees itself, and rightly so, not only as a regional hub which it is, both for logistics, for cargo and for many other things, towards the Middle East, towards the Far East, but it also sees itself, and rightly so, as a center for technologies. For their own technologies. In a way I compare, I spent a few years in Shanghai, China, way back in the day and they were always want the biggest, the finest, the top technology and so on and so forth and there are quite a number of similarities. Not to draw too many similarities but there are some similarities in ... of wanting to shine. I'm saying this in a most positive way of things which means that companies who want to operate there, (a) are competing with international and multi-national companies being in the Gulf for many years and invested tons, including presence on the ground. Things that Israeli companies, by and large, were limited in doing that until recently. So they're competing and in order to be able to succeed what the Israeli industry needs to prove is the added value. What shines? What will help the Emiratis? What would help the Bahrainis, if you want, shine in the neighbourhood? What's the top technology, the niche technology that nobody else in the world can offer, for instance. So these are things we need to think about. The other thing is, and this is fundamental and some of you as you know dealing with other places around the world, dealing with the Emiratis and the Gulf countries in general, places that have basically been in touch with all the countries there, in some way shape or form, it's not just client closing a deal and let's move on. It doesn't work this way. This is something that we're trying also to reflect to our business community back here in Israel. It's very nice to have, it's heartwarming for me to get approaches from the top CEO'S, from the top companies that we can all think of, say, "Oh, I'm not asking for much. Just get me 1% of the market share in UAE and I'm set for life." Okay. This is another similarity in the way that I'm drawing to my time in Shanghai. So it doesn't work that way. I mean, ideally, this is what I'm going to work for. This is what I'm going to push for. But it doesn't work in such an easy way in general. It works in relationships. It works on building trust, on getting to know the right people and I'll narrate on this also in a minute, and it takes time and it takes a lot of investment. When I say investment it means, yes, capital investment as well. It means that I'm investing now and in 2 years time I may not see anything in return. I may well see something but I may not. There are very large multi-nationals that have invested their fears and haven't seen too much of an ROY but it's part of life, as we know, and it's part of building the relationship. When I say long term investment, it's a long term investment in building the relationship. It's a long term investment on having presence on the ground and there are all kinds of methods of going about this. If you want to open shop there you have to have partner there who will have, by law, 51% as a shareholder. It doesn't necessarily mean that he gets 51% of the revenue but at least, legally, he has to have majority share. It means physically we are to be there, coming back and forth, which naturally nowadays with Zoom, apropos in what we're doing now, makes it slightly more challenging but that's the way to go about it. Over the years, as a Foreign Ministry, we've been dealing with the region for over 25 years now. It started with the Israeli Accords when our late President, then former Minister called a couple of the people over, couple of my colleagues aside, in Washington said, "Okay. Start making connections with the Arab world." That's how it ... started and since then we've been cultivating these relations and a lot of it has been on the business side. Many Israeli companies have been operating there. I would say that over the past 20 years or so we've helped say over 500 Israeli companies work there. It doesn't sound much on the one hand but on the other hand it's quite a lot when one takes into the consideration of the ability to work there, up until recently, was only for those companies who were able to operate not under Israeli umbrella. Those who have a sister company or another company listed in, I don't know, Canada, US, Germany or elsewhere and the representatives of those companies were able to travel with, not with Israeli passports. Of course, everything was kosher. Everything was known for those who needed to know but in order not to embarrass anybody it was done this way. This was until recently and now we've changed a phase and as you can imagine we're receiving, I would say, I wouldn't exaggerate by saying hundreds of approaches per week. Since the joint Declaration in mid-August. By companies anywhere from the top banks down to what one of my colleagues likes referring to them, not in a bad way but some of us in the Jewish business, the shmutter business, the gutter business, if you want, and they're all important and we all have something to offer in this regard. We deal with every single one of these approaches and requests that we get. One more thing before I even dive into the difference sectors that we see as the key opportunities or where we would focus more is perhaps also to mention that the approaches that we're receiving really are from all over. We're working and scrambling in a way vis a vis our Emiratis counterparts. I'm focusing on the Emirates, although this is also true for Bahrain, we're really scrambling together with them to find the right people, to find the right connections. Both on the government level and in the private sector and everything that's in between. Perhaps one last remark in this regard, and I alluded to this earlier, is the importance of knowing who to operate with and who to work with. A lot of people claim to be close to this person, close to that person, have experience here, have experience there, related to this family or that family. In many cases it may be true but we really, really have to identify who these people are really connected with. What their track record is. Where there interests are as far as we can understand and we also need to understand that there are also some sensitivities, not to say efficiencies between different entities there, and there is also a very big difference nearly, the other way to say nearly, maybe really, a competition. Sometimes more polite but sometimes less between Abu Dhabi and Dubai, for instance, on who takes the leadership and where we put the focus on. This is even without mentioning the other five Emirates. Whether it's Sharjah, or Fujairah, Ras al Khaimah, so on, which are less developed but they're also part of the UAE and, this is by the way, already I'll give you some kind of a tip, I look at these places because these places are less developed. Because most people are looking specifically at Abu Dhabi and Dubai, looking for the rock under the light if you want, and that these areas which are a bit more virgin in a way could serve as opportunities for some of the companies who have something to good to offer in this regard. It is very, very important to identify the right partners to work with. There again it starts with building a relationship and then it continues with doing business. This is also something which is important to realize. Again, I can't stress enough importance of the direct interaction. The COVID-19 is a huge hurdle and burden on all of us, especially on the private sector. It also on us Diplomats because we believe in the person to person connection and it's difficult to substitute it, even with Zoom or webinars and Team or whatever platform it might be, but we are all in it together. I would, however, say that those who have the opportunity to make the direct physical contact, you will receive a heart warm welcome and will be very, very appreciated for making the effort, kind of taking the risk, if you want in this regard.
Sectors.
Jason: Thank you, Eliav. It's Jason Salztman. I thought we would reserve a discussion on the sectors to the panel so if it's okay with you I'd like to introduce the panel and, certainly, we're grateful that you will participate in the panel and you can make comments about the sectors in the context of the panel, if that's all right.
Eliav: The floor is yours. I'm done.
Jason: Thank you. Thank you very much. So, I'd like to now introduce the remaining members of our panel, in addition to Eliav, which will be my Dubai partners, Suhail Mirza and Tony Fielding, who are both at the Gowling Dubai office. Suhail Mirza is a partner in our Dubai based corporate practice. He advised UAE in international businesses on corporate and commercial transactions including M&A, private equity and corporate structuring and reorganizations. Suhail has acted in the infrastructure sector advising on projects in the Middle East and Africa region, acting for government authorities, off takers, sponsors and lenders on EPP transactions in the energy and utility sector. He's recommended as a expert UAE based lawyer by Legal Directories 500, EMEA and ISLR 100. Tony Fielding is a partner and head of our technology group in Dubai. He has over 20 years experience as a specialist legal advisor for global technology, media and communications companies. His practice is focused on emerging and destructive technologies including cryptocurrencies, Blockchain, AI, autonomous vehicles as well e-commerce, data monetization, infratech in smart cities, among other areas of technology. Tony's worked in the region and has been recognized by The Oath Middle East Legal Awards where the team was awarded the TMTU Team of the Year in 2019. So I'm going to start asking some questions. So, Suhail, what do you see as the key sectors in which you expect to see an uplift in Israel - UAE investment following The Abraham Accords? Certainly, Eliav, feel free to pipe in on sector discussion as well in that context.
Suhail: Thanks, Jason. Thanks, Eliav. That was quite an expansive and you clearly know your stuff because a lot of the commercial knowledge, and some of the legal knowledge, was actually completely on point. That was really excellent, Eliav, from you. The way I see it, I'm a corporate lawyer, I've been based in the region for 12 years now and before that I was in London. When I arrived to Dubai it was very much treated as an emerging market. Emerging market in the sense that it was still infrastructure deficit and investment required in the region to allow it to compete with other economies. You've got to bear in mind that this is a very young country. We're only on ... to celebrate our 50th anniversary, next year. It's still a developing economy but that said it punches well above it's weight. It's one of those places that you can see from my virtual display of the Burj Khalifa, it punches well above it's weight when it comes to infrastructure. That has actually come on the back of huge amounts of all the revenue. But as my 12 years here have shown me we are looking towards the future now. We're moving away from a hydrocarbon economy and the reliance on hydrocarbons. That partly due to economic reasons. The drop in oil prices being the principal reason. Also due to a shift in investment and people's appetite for fossil fuels. As a result of that the UAE economy is looking at refocusing itself and position itself more on the tech. This relationship with Israel, in my mind, I think the emphasis is partnership and the creation of a corridor whereby there is more bi-lateral investment between the two countries whereby we see coming from Israel, from my perspective, a lot of investment in R&D and a lot of holosync of our tech sector. That can include cyber security, information technology, artificial intelligence which I'm sure Tony will pick up on. Also other sectors which are desalination. I do a lot of IWP, water desalination projects, and I'm sure there is some really key technology and intellectual property which we can benefit from and that would mean working alongside our Israeli partners to develop those sectors. Ultimately I see this as a economic win/win. I appreciate there's a lot of politics behind this scene but as a corporate lawyer, practicing in the UAE, I would expect to see a serious uplift in investments in the tech sector, and that's the key sector from my perspective. Beyond that, as Eliav mentioned, the UAE has always been known as a trading hub. We've always been a logistics hub and a trading hub and that's been underpinned by some of the fantastic infrastructure that we have here, principally the Jebel Ali Free Zone, which is home to DP World. I know that there was a first ship landed at Port Jafza yesterday. So that trading has already commenced. The Emiratis themselves are known as traders. So Emiratis will buy and sell products. If this corridor can achieve that it will provide a gateway to North Africa, and also into India, but there is much talk about the corridor being one which is not simply going between the UAE and Israel, but also beyond that further afield into the sub-continent and into North Africa. So it's very much bringing Israel into what I call the MENASA, Middle East, North Africa and South Asia region, and I'm creating much more global view to this regionalized economy, if I can say that.
Jason: Thanks, Suhail. I'm going to ask Tony about his experience working previously with Israeli tech companies, having worked as a regional general counsel for Converse Inc., a very successful global IT and telecom company. I want to ask Tony how he sees companies working together from a cultural legal business perspective and any particular challenges that he foresees.
Jason: Sorry, Tony. You're on mute.
Tony: I just realized. That's the technical I forgot to click the button. Thanks, Jason and thanks, Eliav as well as Suhail for the comments and I think the invite to attend this event is probably one of many that's going to happen in the short term and I've noticed there's a lot more webinars and a lot more dialogues happening across the region between the countries. I was very lucky that I, in a previous lifetime, I worked for a very prominent and a very active Israeli company called Converse and Converse Networks in Tel Aviv. I was very lucky to spend time in Tel Aviv working very closely with the team there when they were developing ... new technologies, particularly in the telecom space. This was just during the time of 3G, 3 and half G, 4G development. I think it's really interesting because, well, obviously historically and politically indeed, politically there were a full range of differences that sit between these different countries. My experience of working with Israeli companies and people as well as, sort of Emiratis, people in Dubai, it's actually slightly similar. I think one of the reasons for that is there is cultural preference for interpersonal relationships and interpersonal building of relationships and face to face meetings. Developing real connections in a way that perhaps Zoom doesn't necessarily lend itself to but this may well be the way of the future. But I think culturally that it sort of underpins the way that businesses have operated in both countries and I think will continue to operate now that this ... is definitely well into the open. I think they're both particularly ambitious. Obviously Israel is known as a start up nation. It has something like 6,500 start ups. We here have 2,300 at latest count. So I think from a tech perspective you're looking at countries that are both, Israel historically, very, very successful in the tech space and UAE, very ambitious in the tech space and well funded in all ... deploy and develop technology. I see that's an ambition matched with the cultural nuances in how they like to do business, sits very well together. I think also having worked with Israelis, they're currently robust individuals when it comes to negotiations, they're solid and they're very straightforward and the UAE, similarly, likes to negotiate and likes to strike a bargain and I think that at a very practical level those things between the countries, particularly from a lawyer's perspective will become very evident. I don't think that they are a problem nor are they really a challenge. I think that they compliment one another in respect of how we will successfully navigate our range of bi-lateral trade agreements but, for me in particular, technology and innovation agreements. I think there's a healthy respect on both sides for good negotiation and heavy negotiation between the countries and I'm looking forward to that. I don't see any challenges at the moment. I mean there are always challenges from a legal perspective when you're negotiating between countries in relation to new technologies. I prefer to look at it as sort of real opportunities between the countries take those differences between the legal systems as well as ways to really develop the opportunities that ... there particularly from a tech space.
Jason: Thank you, Tony, and thanks for that important and interesting perspective. Eliav, I'll ask you to comment on it, if there are other sectors that you wanted to mention but also if you can comment on the enthusiasm on the part of the Israeli people and the business community regarding The Abraham Accord.
Eliav: I'll start with the ... to add on to what Suhail and Tony raised. I agree 100%. I mean the tech issue is probably the most sexiest thing, if you want, most interesting for those sides and really the fact that UAE considers itself, and rightly so, taking ... very much in the forefront of things is a wonderful match for the Israeli technology. But I wouldn't necessarily limit it to cyber, IT, AI and areas like that, but rather broaden the scope also to areas you would see as traditional sectors. Could be the high tech part into it. Like for instance, anything related to adding culture ... what food security as a wholesale name, if you want. Something the Emiratis have raised already quite a number of months ago. Huge interest from their side on desert farming. The whole ... if you want, from Israel. The desert broom. Yes, they want part of that and the difference between 42° Centigrade in the ..., 50° Centigrade in the shade in Abu Dhabi isn't necessarily that great when it comes to technologies. So something which is definitely relevant and this is something we're working on very, very strongly with the best technologies mined. Both as kind of a whole package thing of how to grow things, how to approach it, but also with specific technologies. Another area is medicine. The whole medical field. COVID-19 of course kind of raises above the surface, but something which may be investing on for quite a number of years and developing their own health system, medical system, state of the art hospitals and technologies, but we sense they are somewhat lacking the know how of how to actually put this into practice. I think that's something to offer, both on the training, but also with the technologies. Just one word that I think Suhail raises is an opportunity with their regards to water. Desal, I'm not so sure, because at the end of the day I think the largest desal operations are in the UAE. I think what Israel has to offer in this regard could be in niche areas of desal but not necessarily a holistic approach in this regard. So this, be a bit more careful about. Yes, there are opportunities but I wouldn't necessarily jump into. I would agree with you 100% that it's about relationships. It's about partnerships. It's not about Israelis coming and selling there. Or Israelis coming and attracting investments into Israel. It really is about relationships in the best way possible. Once you build this relationship then the sky's the limit on everything that one can do and hopefully also bring more business also to the legal people involved in these issues as well. So that's just my two cents on a few of the sectors. One more thing, we're putting huge amount of emphasis on the egonomics stuff, and this comes from our Foreign Minister. It comes from our Prime Minister and it comes very much so from the Emiratis and often Bahrain as well. The idea to show that the benefit of these relationships to the people. To the people of all countries involved. The benefits come not from necessarily from showing that we're fighting the evil axis together. Which is a big part of it. It's true from a strategic point of view but at the end of the day it's how does the person on the street enjoy the fruits of this, literally and figuratively. Having Israeli members being sold in the market or served in a top Michelin restaurant in Dubai could be a great thing for instance.
Jason: Thanks. Thanks, Eliav. Suhail, I want to ask you why and how an Israeli company would consider establishing a presence in the UAE as a Gulf corporation counsel?
Suhail: Sure. I mean there's a fairly compelling investment opportunity in Dubai. When I say Dubai I should say UAE, more generally but across the UAE, a federation of seven different Emirates. One of the key advantages of setting up here is that it is zero tax on corporation tax and on income tax. So anybody looking at investing capital in the region, having a base in the UAE makes it a very tax efficient place to do business, because the of the tax rationale. But beyond that there's the fantastic logistics and infrastructure here. We would like to say that we're positioned well in advance of the GCC countries and I'm very much seeing this, as Eliav said, as a hub to do business across the region. Not necessarily just in the GCC. Obviously there's still Normalization Agreements to be put in place with the GCC Member States, other than Bahrain, but it's a great place to do business to get access into Aman, to Kuwait and further afield to India and Africa. So having a holding company, or some kind of corporate structure which is registered in Dubai or the UAE, is very tax efficient. UAE government has been very shrewd about venturing into double taxation treaties with its partners therefore it makes it more attractive when it comes to repatriating income from trading activities across the region. Then more generally we do have robust laws as well. One of the issues that all foreign investors look at is the legal system. I operate within what is known as the Dubai International Financial Center. We have an equivalent in Abu Dhabi which is called the Abu Dhabi Global Markets and they're actually common law frameworks. So you find it surprising that within the desert we have an enclave which has a legal system that is modeled on English common law and any company wishing, within the DIFC or for that matter the ADGM, can rely on laws which are akin to English law and by common law principals. Also the language of business is English. Once you step out of the DIFC, admittedly, you have to deal with local law and Arabic language lawyers. But we can navigate through that. The whole infrastructure is already here. You've got international law firms like ourselves and you've got your advisors. So anybody wanting to do business in this region and an Israeli company wanting to set up, we will make life easy for you because the system is already here, and the government is encouraging this more and more so. Like I said, I've been here for 12 years and each year there's more progressive announcements on doing business in the region and the tax situation hasn't changed, other than for the fact that they introduced VAT a few years back, which was to deal with the downfall in oil revenue as you'd expect. But there was no plans to introduce corporation tax or income tax. So I can't overemphasize that fact. Compared to other jurisdictions we are very, very tax efficient. Going back to one of Eliav's points about restrictions on foreign ownership as well. I mentioned the progressive nature of the economy here and the government. There has been some movement towards allowing 100% foreign ownership, which is a plus, and that's particularly so on the tax sector so we can marry all this together. So, anybody with a compelling business proposition to invest capital in the region, and for that matter to bring in R&D and new technology, they can obtain 100% foreign ownership. Within the region we also have what is known as Free Zones where 100% foreign ownership is permitted. Subject to going the right corporate structure in place it is possible to get 100% foreign ownership. Which is unlike some of are other neighbouring countries where still this concept of 100% foreign ownership is relatively restricted. But that's another positive. There used to always be the tagline that being based in Dubai will be based in the UAE. You're no less than 3 hours away from 34% of the world. No less than 6 hours away from the rest, 66% of the world. Because we feel like we're in the center of the Universe here. We have two fantastic airlines, Emirates and Etihad, and I didn't want to talk about COVID but we can't avoid it, once we get this wretched COVID out of the way it will be very much business as usual. So it's a fantastic hub to be based. Like I said I've been here for 12 years. I've seen lots of clients, international corporate, who said we want to be based in Dubai because we can take phone calls from China in the morning and we can take phone calls from the US in the evening. To bring Israel into play, the regional headquarter in Dubai to do business across the globe, is a fantastic proposition from my perspective.
Jason: Thank you, Suhail. I know want to turn the topic over more specifically into technology. There's already a major deal that was announced last week. That was between the Israeli venture capital firm, Our Cloud and al Naboodah Investments, which will see $100,000,000.00 of Emirati capital going into Israeli tech companies. Now I want to ask Tony about how this would go on the other side. This September the tech magazine, Wired, stated that the Normalization Agreement will enable the UAE to turbocharge it's tech industry. Tony, do you agree with this statement and if so, why is that?
Tony: Yeah, I do agree with the statement that it will assist the UAE in turbocharge the tech industry and its innovation. I particularly like Eliav's sort of metaphor around may the UAE wanting to shine in that we've got this new dialogue. I think that one of the ways that the UAE, with Israel's help, that we will shine is in the tech sector. It's very true that the tech sector will enable both countries to sort of work very closely together to sort of chase ambitions, but the UAE obviously is working towards a national vision and part of its pillar of its national vision, like many of the countries around the GCC, is sort of digital innovation and encouraging the digital adoption within its own communities. I think that Israel being the tech hub it's historically been, and the ambition and the appetite for new destructive technologies, new deployments in the UAE, funding that's been made available in relation to new technologies made by the UAE, there's very much sort of, I'm not a fan of the word, but there are very much synergies between both countries in knowledge and their ability to share that knowledge in order to sort of facilitate growth in technology here in the UAE. Not just for the national vision for the UAE. I just think to do develop the way that the UAE has placed itself globally in the market, wanting to shine, and its ambitions to shine, and not just be on par with other countries, but to actually be a leader in particular industries. I think part of what this collaboration between Israel and the UAE can bring will come certainly from the Israeli side. It's historically this. It's quite knowledge and scope of getting knowledge from sort of research and development and what that will bring to the UAE, and the ability for us to sort of cross collaborate and across sectors. Not just across country. I think that will be something that we'll both build on already existing in formal relationships that we have between the countries. Particularly in a tech space but also in relation to a myriad of untapped potentials in the tech space that we probably don't even know about. Eliav was talking previously about artificial intelligence and we're just, at the moment, beginning to understand how artificial intelligence can be employed and deployed across various sectors. I think both countries will certainly work for in part together to explore that and really develop that across key sectors. Particularly like oil and gas, energy, desalination, resource management, water security, those types of things will really see the development across sectors like that with artificial intelligence. I also think you've got this general know how that sits within Israel, where we certainly have a certain amount of in the UAE, but I think there is a depth of knowledge there that will really underpin some of the ambitions that we have here in the UAE that we want to roll out, not just in the government sector, but in the private sector. One of the flow on effects of that, obviously, will be start up activity. Start up activity is already increasing here in the UAE as a result of the Normalization Agreement and I think that it will only continue to increase. I think that will be partly because of the learnings that we will get from the start up and entrepreneurial environment from Israel, but also a lot of the developments here such as the DFIC's FinTech Hive, as well as investment that's going into, for example, FinTech. So there is definitely this match between knowledge, experience and ambition and funding between the two countries that I think comes together, and it's a perfect tech storm that enables real sort of acceleration of technology here in the UAE, in a way that the government is looking for.
Jason: Thanks for that answer, Tony. We're starting to receive quite a number of questions from attendees in the audience and I thought I would just ask some of them. We could just open these to the floor, more generally. So the first question is, would it be safe to say that the current agreement is focused more on harvesting the economic benefits in the region rather than exploring the comprehensive peace deal in the region which may not be possible in the short run? I think Eliav touched on that a little bit. I don't know if you have any more specific responses to this question, Eliav, or if anybody else wants to pipe in.
Eliav: I'd like to add maybe just a couple more words about this. Yes, we're putting the big emphasis on the economic process. The idea is that the societies will realize that through economy, that the economy is the way to basically develop things. That countries across the region will realize that through joining hands the region is getting smaller and smaller, or closer and closer, and again, COVID is proving this again as well. The opportunities that arise through the economic and business sector can turn, will turn we believe, bring about more political collaboration. So as opposed to the way we've been trying for over so many years, the top down approach, it's now in the way of wanting up approach of through the business communities. This is definitely an emphasis of mind.
Jason: Alright. Thank you. Suhail, we received another question relating to the legal system in the UAE, particularly with respect to the court system, and the specific question is whether the court system is known for non-local bias. Is there any reliance or guidance on Delaware law for corporate law issues?
Suhail: I think there's two questions in there. On the perception of the local courts and bias I think that's one question there. There's a couple of ways to tackle this. In terms of local bias. There's multiple systems of forums for dispute resolution in this region, in the UAE. I say that you have a couple of options at the outset. So you can either go through arbitration, if you have no faith in the court systems, and that's not just a UAE issue, that's globally. International companies will prefer to have their disputes determined by arbitration and you're quite open in the UAE to choose an arbitration, and the seats of arbitration being Dubai or even Abu Dhabi, or more specifically the Dubai International Financial Center where I'm based, and you can have your own arbitration rules. Those arbitration rules can be DIFC-LCIA arbitration rules or they can be pure ICC arbitration rules or you can go for DIAC which is Dubai International Arbitration Center rules. I'm not going to go into chapter and verse but you can see there that there is a huge amount of flexibility to actually avoid going to court altogether. A lot of international companies will prefer to avoid going to court for a number of commercial reasons including confidentiality. But also the UAE is party to New York Convention. So you can get an arbitral award from outside the UAE and have it enforced in the UAE. In principal UAE courts will enforce an international arbitral award. But there's no reason to actually choose Dubai or the UAE as a forum for your arbitration. Saying that, if you do have to go through the court system, then there's two options. You don't have to go through the local courts. You can actually elect to choose the DIFC courts or the courts in the ADGM, the Abu Dhabi Global Markets. Those courts are all manned by common law judges and barristers. So you've got the UK circuit of barristers, as well as other common law barristers, and you have the head of the DIFC courts, previously it was a Singaporean individual but now has been succeeded by an Emirati. He's been trained in common law. So you actually have the court system which is very friendly and based around a common law, if you choose the DIFC or ADGM. Now there might be instances where you need to go and litigate in the local courts and that's when the question of bias will come in. Because first and foremost the dispute is undertaken in Arabic and the proceedings are undertaken in Arabic language. Secondly, you're going to get an Emirati judge because only an Emirati judge has the capacity to determine that dispute. That's when questions come in, is my counterparty the government? Am I likely to succeed in taking action against the government? Then a lot has happened. I mean in principal, it's going to be objective for dispute resolution, and you will find that you will have representation independently and you'll have your own local advocate acting on your behalf, and the law is based on the civil code and it's codified. It's written in English as well as Arabic. So your counsel will be able to take you through that process. Fundamentally, is there a perception of bias? UAE government has moved a long way towards removing that perception of bias by introducing these alternative forums for dispute resolution. Arbitration at the DIFC courts. So you don't need to go through that initial hurdle of having to deal with the local courts. You can actually elect to go through one of these alternative forums with dispute resolution, and that will answer your question because it's much more investor friendly, and the government has encouraged all of the municipal authorities and the federal authorities to actually agree to those alternative dispute resolution mechanisms. So if you're an international bank and you've loaned money to a UAE company, chances are that you will choose arbitration of the DIFC courts. We do a lot of project finance transactions where we do not go to the local courts for any of those sorts of disputes. So that will take way the element of bias. But notwithstanding that, the government as a policy decision, is trying to take away some of this perception bias. It's a difficult one because from an outsider's perspective it's a very alien jurisdiction but once you get yourself within the system, and you speak to people like myself, we can address those issues and those risks. But it's a country risk which will come up in any jurisdiction, not just UAE. The second question about Delaware law. I mean I think that was a technical question of US law. I'm just having to look at the question again. Remind me again, Jason, what was it? It was something to do with.
Jason: Is there any reliance or guidance on Delaware law for corporate law issues?
Suhail: Is there any reliance? I'm not sure exactly what that question is heading for. All I would say is, and I'm having to take the conversation separately with the individual who's raised that question, but there is a freedom of choice of law. That might be the question. You are not bound to choose UAE law, or English law, or even DIFC law, you can actually have a contract subject to Delaware law. So if there is a question of Delaware law and the dispute has been heard in a local court, UAE courts will actually invite a Delaware law expert to be available at that hearing and will take representations from a Delaware law expert. So you could have a US attorney in the ... That might answer the question.
Jason: Okay. Thank you, Suhail. I want to use the remaining couple of minutes to answer another important question that comes in. That is for those interested in exploring business opportunities in the region what are the next steps? I guess I'll direct that question to anybody who wants to take a first stab at a response.
Eliav: I'll just say this very, very briefly and then of course Tony and Suhail if you want to add, of course. Find the right partner. Find somebody who's got a real presence on the ground and real connections. Do your homework towards this. Don't just jump in on the first one who offers his assistance or first name you find in the yellow pages. Find somebody who's got the connections. Do your homework and then go into it.
Tony: I was going to leave the question to Suhail but I would just jump in quickly. From a tech perspective one of the initial questions I would suggest is what is the type of business and/or service or technology that you are looking to either develop or pursue or deploy in the region and, in respect of that, then look at what is the most appropriate Free Zone that exists within the UAE that might match up to a technology or service that you are looking to deploy or provide over the region, through your local partner. For example, you have Dubai Media City. You have Dubai Internet City. You have Dubai Health Care City. So all of these Free Zones have particular regulations that apply to particular types of service offerings and ancillary services that are aligned to the nature of the business that you are looking to provide. And again, I would also say that if you are a particularly risk adverse entity looking to enter the DIFC, as Suhail said before, and the ADGM are both very solid robust common law based legal system to have regulations, court and processes and procedures that will protect you and your interests in the event that there are any disputes. But that's just my five cents worth. Suhail.
Jason: Thank you, Tony. I'm mindful of time and I want to use this last 30 seconds just to thank everybody for their attendance today and especially thank you to our dignified guests, as well as our team at Gowling WLG who has organized this event and special thanks to The Chamber and Oded for participating. Needless to say we are incredibly excited about the opportunities that the Agreements present, to all of us as well as our clients around the world and the synergies that will be created from them. We look forward to future updates and discussions on this fast growing area of opportunity. Thank you.