Emirati and Israeli companies sign deal to help build coronavirus testing kit

Deal was signed in same week peace accord between Israel and UAE was announced

Representatives from Apex National Investment and TeraGroup sign the deal. WAM

Two companies, from the UAE and from Israel, have announced a commercial agreement to carry out research on the coronavirus.

Under the agreement, Apex National Investment and TeraGroup will work to develop a coronavirus testing device that produces accurate results faster.

Apex chairman Khalifa Khouri and TeraGroup chief executive Oren Sadiv signed the deal on Saturday, two days after a peace accord between Israel and UAE was announced.

"We are delighted with this co-operation with TeraGroup, which is considered the first business to inaugurate trade, economy and effective partnerships between the Emirati and Israeli business sectors, for the benefit of serving humanity by strengthening research and studies on the novel coronavirus," Mr Khouri said.

Mr Sadiv said: "We are thrilled with our agreement with Apex National Investment and hope we will achieve the objectives outlined in this agreement, which will benefit everyone economically, specifically in these exceptional circumstances with the spread of the novel coronavirus around the world."

Apex is a company that invests in sectors including health care, and has expertise building and equipping field hospitals.

Established in 2003, TeraGroup has investments in research and development with many world-renowned scientists.

Also on Saturday, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, said the UAE had turned a corner in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

Sheikh Mohammed said careful planning and the "heroic efforts" of frontline medics meant the end of the crisis was in sight.

He had just toured the emirate's Covid-19 Command and Control Centre, at Mohammed bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences in Dubai's Healthcare City.