Could Israel + Saudi Arabia cooperate on a transport corridor? PLUS: Jordan + Egypt discuss ways to boost trade, and more from Iran

Israel is confident it will deepen its economic and business ties with Saudi Arabia despite the current absence of formal relations , Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Bloomberg in an interview (watch, run time: 3:40). There is “an economic corridor of energy, transport, and communications that naturally goes through our geography [with Saudi Arabia]… we will realize that whether we have formal peace or not,” Netanyhu says in the interview.

Politics not an obstacle: Netanyahu does not think political questions will block or sour this potential with KSA. “If there is political will, there will be a political way to achieve normalization… with Saudi Arabia,” he adds. Netanyahu also dismissed the idea that the Palestinian issue would hinder a potential Saudi-Israel agreement, calling it “sort of a check box” and stressing that he would not do anything that “will give away Israel’s security.”

The two countries have already interacted with each other on an informal level, with Netanyahu visiting the Kingdom back in 2020 , a trip that was never officially recognised, Bloomberg writes. The Kingdom also opened its airspace last year to airlines flying in and out of Israel — and just this month, Israeli-based company SolarEdge Technologies announced a joint venture with Saudi firm Ajlan & Bro’s to develop renewable energy, the outlet writes.

This isn't the first we’ve heard of an economic corridor between Israel and KSA: Back in July, reports that Israel and the US were on track to create a land route linking the UAE to Israel via Saudi Arabia and Jordan made rounds in the media. The corridor would slash costs and transit times for the transport of goods from the UAE to Israel.

Amman chamber issues recommendations to boost Jordan-Egypt trade: The Amman Chamber of Commerce (ACC) proposed several measures to boost Jordan’s exports to the Egyptian market, and implement the trade MoUs signed between the countries, according to a report prepared by the ACC picked up by Jordanian news agency Petra.

The recommendations: The report recommends designing support programs for technical conformity, establishing collaborative trade exhibitions, streamlining customs procedures, reducing administrative costs for the smooth flow of goods between the two countries, and exchanging trade data, according to Petra. These measures all fall in line with the countries’ efforts to facilitate and bolster joint trade, and aim to address challenges identified by the report, including obstacles to registration procedures, transportation obstacles, and high costs.

The report was presented during the Joint Jordanian-Egyptian Higher Committee session , which took place yesterday and saw officials ink several MoUs in the fields of economic policy, environmental affairs and vocational training, Ahram Gate reports.

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• Russian Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade for Aviation Affairs Andrey Boginsky discussed strengthening cooperation in aircraft overhaul and manufacturing with Iran’s Deputy Minister of Industry for Transportation Affairs Manouchehr Manteghi.(Tasnim News Agency)
• Iranian political deputy at the Foreign Affairs Ministry Ali Bagheri Kani met with Serbia's State Secretary Ambassador Goran Aleksić to discuss enhancing trade ,boosting trade volumes and economic ties. (Mehr News Agency)