The UAE and Israel are in talks to establish a quarantine-free travel corridor by April.
The corridor, which would apply only to passengers fully vaccinated against Covid-19, would allow travel for commercial, tourism and official reasons, Wam reported on Wednesday.
Meetings between the UAE's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation and its equivalent Israeli body are under way to negotiate the terms of any deal.
The two sides said it would increase the level of exchange after the historic Abraham Accords signed last year, and reinforce economic and other ties.
The UAE and Israel are ahead in the global race to vaccinate all of their citizens.
Israel has inoculated more than half its population of 9.3 million, while the UAE on Tuesday said about 3.77 million of its people were immunised.
Both sides said strengthening global health security is a collective responsibility and underlined the importance of international co-operation to achieve a sustainable recovery from the pandemic.
Fly Dubai starts flights to Israel
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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The biog
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Emirate: Sharjah – Khor Fakkan
Education: Master’s degree in special education, preparing for a PhD in philosophy.
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Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
'The Sky is Everywhere'
Director:Josephine Decker
Stars:Grace Kaufman, Pico Alexander, Jacques Colimon
Rating:2/5
The specs: 2019 BMW X4
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Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 354hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 500Nm @ 1,550rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 9.0L / 100km
