Arab News, Saturday, Nov 28, 2020 | Rabi Al Thani 13, 1442
Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala seeks Israeli tech, investment partners
Emirates:
Abu Dhabi
state investor Mubadala plans to identify potential fund partners in Israel and
find high-growth technology firms in which to co-invest, as the UAE and Israel
seek to boost commercial ties after normalizing relations.
“There will be
interesting opportunities with joint funds or joint ventures, but we are still
early on in evaluating this,” Ibrahim Ajami, head of Mubadala’s Ventures unit,
told a financial technology conference in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.
He said that Mubadala
— which manages over $230 billion in assets — has co-invested with Israeli
investors in the US and Europe, but closer ties between the UAE and Israel open
up a significant opportunity for investments.
“We are always
excited about Silicon Valley. But we are also looking at Europe, we’re looking
at the Middle East, we’re looking at India and we would like to be very active
in China,” Ajami said.
Since the UAE and
Israel agreed to normalize relations in August, the two countries have signed a
host of accords to boost economic and business ties.
Bank Leumi, Israel’s
second-biggest bank, this week brought a delegation of executives to Dubai from
industries ranging from real estate to energy and technology.
“Once the peace
agreement was signed we thought that being the leader for connecting Israeli
companies and Emirati organizations could be our role,” Avraham Ortal, CEO of
Leumi’s investment arm Leumi Partners, told Reuters on the sidelines of a
business gathering on Dubai’s palm-shaped island.
“It’s very early,”
said Ortal. “We are just planting the seed. We’re going to plant it, we’re going
to nourish it, and eventually it will flourish, but it’s going to take a while.”
The UAE has recently
announced visa and business reforms aimed at attracting more expatriates to live
and work in the country, after many left as firms cut jobs amid a severe
economic slowdown caused by the coronavirus outbreak.