抖阴短视频

Sabah Al-Binali has a reputation in the Arab world as a straight-talking deal-doer, with a long record of high-profile transactions in the UAE and 抖阴短视频 on his CV. But his latest venture could be just about the most significant of the lot.

Al-Binali, a native of Abu Dhabi but with a solid family lineage in 抖阴短视频, was named head of Gulf region business for OurCrowd, a $1.5 billion Israeli venture capital firm, which has linked up with Al Naboodah, one of the best-known family business names in the region.

鈥淚f you look at my experience and what I鈥檝e done in life, it鈥檚 been about building businesses and making investments 鈥� creating value. It鈥檚 not just been about harvesting money,鈥� he told Arab News.

The OurCrowd-Al Naboodah link-up could not have been possible just a few short weeks ago. It is one of the first fruits of the normalization of relations between the UAE and Israel under the Abraham Accord, and the biggest so far in the financial sector.

An investment fund has been set up under the deal, initially with $100 million of capital injected by Al Naboodah and some other Gulf entrepreneurs. Al Naboodah鈥檚 business development unit, Phoenix Capital, will seek to create a two-way street in investment business between Israel and the UAE, and with OurCrowd鈥檚 220 portfolio companies around the world.

鈥淚 think it says something that one of the first firms Al Naboodah looked to was OurCrowd. It鈥檚 a testament that the language of business is global. Both countries have been dealing with the world before 鈥� it鈥檚 not as if this is the first time that a market has opened from the UAE to the rest of the world.

鈥淭he entrepreneurial and business mentality is strong in both counties and once the political normalization happened, you saw how fast things can happen, because both sides are very experienced at striking cross-border deals,鈥� Al-Binali said. 

He believes there are many opportunities for mutually profitable investment relations between the Gulf and Israel. 鈥淥n all facets of investment, on business development, on research and development, on innovation and on trade, these opportunities exist both in Israel and the UAE. Both countries can be both the origin and destination of the investment,鈥� he added. The eventual size of the fund could reach 鈥渕ultiples鈥� of the initial $100 million, he said.

There are some fundamental synergies between the UAE and Israel that make the connection compelling. 鈥淭he UAE and GCC governments have created great infrastructure for foreign firms to expand into the region. The Israeli government created a 鈥榮tartup nation鈥� with a leading edge in global technology. It is a natural match,鈥� he added.

He is only a few days into the job, which was agreed within a month of the Israeli-UAE entente, and understandably there is much detailed work to do on where investment funds are directed. But already there are three main channels of focus.

One is into OurCrowd鈥檚 big international portfolio. 鈥淥urCrowd is a global platform 鈥� 40 percent of its investments are outside of Israel, in the US, Australia and Singapore. One of the largest recent unicorns was in Singapore,鈥� he said.

BIO

Born: Abu Dhabi 1970

Education

• Graduate Princeton University, New Jersey
• Doctorate Columbia University, New York

Career

• Head of treasury, Union National Bank
• Managing director, Saudi Swiss Securities
• Chairman, Zawya
• Board director, Credit Suisse 抖阴短视频
• CEO, Saffar Capital
• Board director, Al Awael International Securities
• Vice chairman, Gulf Finance
• Chief investment officer, Shuaa Capital
• Vice chairman, The National Investor
• Chairman and CEO, Universal Strategy
• Head of Gulf region, OurCrowd.

Then there is business expansion by OurCrowd鈥檚 current and future portfolio companies. 鈥淭hese are companies that want to expand operationally into the UAE, Bahrain and other countries if and when they normalize.

鈥淚t makes a lot of sense 鈥� there is no corporate income tax here in the UAE, while there is lots of tax in Israel. Our work and residence laws are very welcoming and open. We鈥檙e a hospitable nation that has experienced welcoming people from all over the world for decades. So that鈥檚 an easy one,鈥� Al-Binali said.

鈥淭he third one is to back startups and entrepreneurs in the UAE, Bahrain and other places where things are normalized. You can see we鈥檙e looking at all opportunities and I鈥檓 sure there will be many of them,鈥� he added.

Al-Binali reeled off the potential sectors for the new fund. He sees technology as an enabler in all sorts of areas: Medical, agriculture, national security including cyber, and financial technology. 鈥淔intech in particular, because Israel has technology and the UAE is a financial hub,鈥� he explained.

As an example of business 鈥済oing the other way,鈥� he cited DP World鈥檚 recent deal with Bank Leumi to develop port logistics in the country, but there are many other potential areas too.

In hospitality and tourism, he sees a big potential market in Western Christian travelers who want to undertake a Middle East tour through Jerusalem and Dubai, for example.

The defense business is complicated by the international laws and treaties covering the trade in arms, but, as Al-Binali pointed out, it is not just about weapons of war.

鈥淐yber technology doesn鈥檛 have to be part of the defense sector. It can be used by the financial sector or the telecoms companies. We鈥檙e not necessarily talking about the sale of weapons or arms, we鈥檙e talking about technology鈥�, he said.

Drone technology is another example of multiple applications. 鈥淚t can be used in terms of national security, but it can also be used for the maintenance of pipelines and geological surveying. There are lots of uses of drones that go beyond the military.

鈥淪mall drones can give civil defense an instant view of what鈥檚 going on in a large fire in a building. These technologies can be used in the military but can also be adapted to the civilian sector,鈥� he said.

OurCrowd was founded by American-Israeli entrepreneur Jonathan Medved seven years ago, with a distinct technology edge. It lists Virgin Hyperloop One, the fast-transit technology being developed in the US, but it also has big plans in the Middle East, with one of its portfolio companies boasting an interest valued at $3.8 million.

Al Nabodah is one of the oldest family businesses in the UAE, with the traditional range of business interests in construction, real estate, logistics and transport. 鈥淚n the investment world and the business world, Al Naboodah is very well known. Anybody wanting to know who to do business with in Dubai or the UAE would have put Al Naboodah on their list. They have deep contacts across the world,鈥� Al-Binali said.

How does Israeli business culture compare and contrast with that of the UAE? 

鈥淚t鈥檚 similar in that it鈥檚 built on relationships and trust, and person-to-person contact 鈥� backed by legal paperwork of course 鈥� but you have that same initial contact culture. I call it Middle East-ism. In terms of communications style, I鈥檇 compare Israelis with Russians, who I鈥檝e experienced before. The language is much more direct.

鈥淏ut the Israelis understand us because they鈥檝e dealt with a lot of other countries that have the same culture, and I understand the Israelis鈥� communications style. It鈥檚 similar to Russians, and quite similar to New Yorkers,鈥� he said.

Al Naboodah also has an office in Riyadh and has done a lot of business in 抖阴短视频, and while Al-Binali believes it is too early to talk about a rapprochement between the Kingdom and Israel, he is sure there is plenty of business opportunity there too.

鈥淲e cannot talk in concrete terms until 抖阴短视频 decides whether or if it wants to normalize. But I can say we鈥檇 see the same speed of business building that we鈥檝e seen here, because the Saudis have the same characteristics.

鈥淪audi government institutions are worldly, they鈥檙e used to dealing with companies from around the world. Saudi business families are also very global. The same elements that make me see the first initial steps to success in the UAE-Israel partnership exist in Saudi too 鈥� except that the Kingdom has a much larger economy.

鈥淚f and when relations are normalized, from a business perspective, I can see tremendous value creation in Saudi and Israel, but also for the UAE and Bahrain. The more the GCC is seen as a big common market, the more interest there will be,鈥� he said.

鈥淪ome of my business friends in New York are telling me they will deploy into anything between Israel and the UAE. They see this as a virgin business route that can pay huge dividends,鈥� he added.