Samaria Regional Council chairman Yossi Dagan visited Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, accompanying wine and honey producers from Samaria in order to create business ties between the UAE and Samaria.
Companies from Samaria have signed an agreement to export wine, honey, olive oil and tahini to the UAE, through the Emirates company FAM, which was selected by Forbes magazine as one of the 100 leading growth companies in the Middle East.
The Samaria Regional Council is the first municipal authority in Israel to succeed in signing export agreements to the UAE and was also the first to travel to the UAE with a delegation of businessmen to promote economic ties through export agreements.
The agreement was signed at the FAM offices in Dubai between "Paradise Honey" in northern Samaria, the Tura Winery and FAM in the presence of Council Chairman Dagan and representatives of the Har Bracha Winery, the Tom Winery and the Arnon Winery.
The "Paradise Honey" company from the town of Hermesh in northern Samaria produces about 50 tons of honey a year, natural honey without additives and which comes in unique flavors. The wineries that have signed with the company are world-renowned wineries that win international awards every year, as do the olive oil and tahini which comes from the Samaria region. The Tura Winery in Rehelim has won more than 80 international awards in the last 10 years.
"We are making history," said Yossi Dagan. "We are opening a new economic page between the most excellent companies in Samaria and FAM. I am very excited and happy with how things stand. Samaria strives to lead in all areas, and also in the field of export and business development. This is a historic moment. The Samaria region that I am proud to represent is located in the heart of the State of Israel, and is the most demographically growing region in Israel and economically it is also growing."
"We are happy to be the first to bring Samaria to Dubai, this agreement and other agreements that will come later are expected to strengthen the economy in Samaria and the State of Israel and also have a good effect on the United Arab Emirates," Dagan said.
FAM Holding Group Chairman Dr. Faisal Ali Musa greeted the delegation: "Thank you for coming here. We are very glad you came. If you had asked me a year ago if I had dreamed such a thing could have happened, I would have told you no. We have achieved a great goal today, We have turned our countries' vision into practice. This is just the beginning of business between two countries, this is not just a business signature. This is a statement to the world, that we are true brothers, we are true friends and we want to do business together and live in peace."
"We are changing the future," added Ali Musa. "We invite more Israelis to do business with us. We want to say thank you to Mr. Yossi Dagan for opening the door for us. In the future, we will open more connections between us, between FAM Holding and other Israeli companies, in all fields, medicine, technology, high-tech, and more."
Matan Paradise from the "Paradise Honey" company told Aruz Sheva following the signing ceremony: "This is really exciting. I am sure we will continue to export not only to the UAE but to other centers. We will do everything to continue to develop the honey industry in Samaria."
Vered Ben Saadoun, the owner of the Tura Winery, also said: "We are happy and excited to come to Dubai with the wines of Tora Winery. Since time immemorial wine has connected people, Tora Winery has the privilege of making a historic mark in the relations between peoples."