Time for collaboration and new business
● Dov Kotler, CEO of Bank Hapoalim, was part of the first Israeli official business delegation to the UAE. Here’s an excerpt of his speech at the Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry
Iam standing here to mark a historic event: the visit of the first Israeli official financial and business delegation to your beautiful country.
Firstly, I would like to thank the leaders of both of our countries. Without their courage, we would not be standing here today. A special thank you to His Highness Shaikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Your courage and vision are enabling us all to live in a better Middle East, where opportunities and growth are a driving force.
Us standing here next to you — Mr President and CEO Hamad Buamim, Mr Hisham Al Shirawi, and Mr Hassan Al Hashemi — is a symbol of the beginning of the trading relations between our two countries.
Thank you for hosting us here today and making the Abraham peace agreement a reality.
Working with the Dubai Chamber of Commerce is a great leap forward towards many trading agreements to come.
An hour ago we had signed the first MOU between the two leading banks in the UAE and Israel and now we are all here to meet you — the heads of the chamber of commerce.
This historical visit could have not have been accomplished without the wonderful support of the Chamber of Commerce and without the great support of you personally, Mr Chairman and your entire team.
We in the State of Israel admire the leaders of both countries who have taken the appropriate steps to lead to a peace agreement between the two countries. The first Prime Minister of Israel, David Ben Gurion, used to say that it needs a lot of courage to achieve a peace agreement, but it takes a lot of love and care to have true friendship.
Throughout our extensive conversations and today while visiting this wonderful country, I am inspired by the amount of good faith and true friendship found here. Yes, we feel here not only welcome but we feel like we have been friends for many years!
We at Bank Hapoalim – Israel’s leading bank – felt that in order to show a true commitment to the establishment of true relations, we ought to bring with us a delegation of Israel’s leading enterprises and key business leaders.
The members of the delegation include representatives of the banking, financial, insurance, infrastructure, high-tech, bio, pharma and other sectors.
Mr Chairman, we see the Dubai Chamber of Commerce as not only an active player in building the relations between Israeli companies and local companies. We see you, as our true partners. We have many plans for the future and our first mission will be to open the bridge, and I can already say: yes, we have opened it and more and more will follow in our footsteps.
Now, we have a task to set up the first UAE-Israeli Business Conference, so let’s go for it.
Before I conclude, Mr Chairman and honorary guests, I was told that you have more than 250,000 companies that are listed as members of your respectful organisation. May I correct this figure and add that as of today you have 250,001 companies, as I am proud to announce that you have Bank Hapoalim join as a new member of the list. Thank you Mr Chairman and thank you all for the very warm welcome. I would like to extend my personal invitation to you Mr Chairman and to all the people who were involved in this agreement to come and visit us in Tel Aviv. All members of the Chamber of Commerce are invited to visit Israel.
The word Shalom in Arabic means Salam. In Hebrew this word has got another meaning: Welcome. So, welcome my partners to this new era of collaboration and new business, and once again many thanks for your gracious and warm welcome. Thank you!