JERUSALEM, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) signed on Tuesday a free trade agreement, the first of its kind between Israel and an Arab country.

       The trade deal, signed by Israeli Minister of Economy Orna Barbivay and her UAE counterpart Abdulla Bin Touq Al-Marri in Dubai, is expected to eliminate tariffs on 96 percent of products, including food, agriculture, cosmetics, medical equipment and medicines, said the Israeli Economy Ministry in a statement.

       The agreement also covers regulation, government procurement, e-commerce and intellectual property, it said.

       Trade between Israel and the UAE reached 1.22 billion U.S. dollars in 2021, and already 672 million dollars in the first four months of 2022, according to Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics.

       The bilateral trade mainly includes diamonds, automation and electrical equipment, electronics, vehicles, jewellery, minerals and oils.

       The Israel-UAE trade deal aims to help raise the annual bilateral trade to more than 10 billion dollars in five years, according to both Israeli and the UAE ministries.

       "The comprehensive economic partnership agreement will create a new model for constructive cooperation between the countries of the region," UAE Economy Minister Abdulla Bin Touq Al-Marri was quoted as saying in a statement issued by his ministry.

       For her part, Barbivay said the deal "is expected to strengthen trade between the two countries, remove barriers and promote new opportunities and business partnerships, which will form a solid basis for our common path."

       Israel and the UAE, which signed a historic normalization agreement in September 2020, launched the free trade negotiations in November 2021.