Is the Middle East set for 'new gold rush'? ARISE Summit in Jerusalem to explore Israeli-Gulf business opportunities

JERUSALEM – Dramatic breakthroughs in Arab-Israeli peace-making in recent months are poised to set into motion a “new gold rush” in the Middle East.

That’s the assessment of ALL ISRAEL NEWS founder and Editor-in-Chief Joel C. Rosenberg as he prepares to speak at a major business conference in Jerusalem.

Rosenberg will be a keynote speaker on Dec. 7 at the ARISE Summit.

The summit is designed to matchmake CEOs, entrepreneurs and investors from around the world with business opportunities in Israel.

“One by one, we’re seeing breathtaking breakthroughs in the Middle East known as the Abraham Accords – and the economic potential of peace is beyond belief,” Rosenberg will say in prepared remarks to the conference. “As investors shift their view of the Middle East from the epicenter of war and terrorism to the vortex of wealth, innovation and prosperity, we are going to see things move rapidly."

As Rosenberg plans to note, the first Arab state to make peace with Israel in 2020 was the United Arab Emirates. They have an annual GDP of some $400 billion and a sovereign wealth fund of some $700 billion.

The next Arab country to make peace with Israel was the Kingdom of Bahrain, which has an annual GDP of about $40 billion and a sovereign wealth fund of about $20 billion.

“Imagine if these Arab countries begin investing in Israeli health care, cybersecurity, water desalinization and other technologies,” Rosenberg will say. “After years of using their technologies against one another, what if Israel and the Arab states start really working together. The sky is the limit.”

Rosenberg is also expected to discuss the potential of an Israeli-Saudi peace deal.

The Saudis have an annual GDP of some $700 billion, and are just beginning to create a sovereign wealth fund as they sell shares ARAMCO, the national oil company and the world’s largest company.

ARISE was founded three years ago with the goal of connecting businesspeople from around the world to the Israeli marketplace (the majority of whom are Evangelical Christians).

Among other activities, ARISE hosts an annual business matchmaking summit, at which it presents cutting edge Israeli innovation and companies with technology that is tackling some of the greatest crises facing humanity.

“So far, 1,338 businesspeople from 47 nations have participated in ARISE B2B events, creating in aggregate $53 million of immediate transactions and an estimated $404 million of economic impact over the next 10 years,” ARISE founder Calev Myers, an Israeli attorney, said.

The 2020 ARISE Summit will take place this year digitally, in partnership with Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Thousands of businesspeople from around the world are expected to participate.

Speakers will include dignitaries and businesspeople from the UAE and Bahrain, senior officials in the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs and chairmen of the International Christian Chamber of Commerce, Israel Federation of Bi-National Chambers of Commerce, Israel High-tech Association, Israel-GCC Chamber of Commerce, etc.

“Prospering in the New Normal” – post-COVID-19 and post-Abraham Accords – is the summit's theme.

Another interesting speaker will be the UAE's H.E. Ahmed Obaid Al Mansoori, founder of the Strategists Center, a think tank focused on the Middle East Geo-political affairs.

“The B2B platform of the summit allows participants to both enjoy fantastic mainstage presentations, as well as easily filtering through the profile of other participants, finding relevant matches and inviting them to immediate chats and face to face video meetings,” Myers told ALL ISRAEL NEWS. “The platform also offers business an option to register as an 'Exhibitor,' which will give your business a more robust profile (including promotional video content) and higher visibility to other participants.”

People can register for the ARISE Summit here.

The Summit is being recorded at and broadcast from the Media Center of the Friends of Zion Museum in Jerusalem.