Dubai and Tel Aviv, two of the world’s biggest diamond-trading hubs, have agreed to share expertise, open reciprocal offices and promote regional trade in the precious stones.

The United Arab Emirates’ Dubai Diamond Exchange will cooperate with the Israel Diamond Exchange in Tel Aviv, the Dubai government’s commodities authority DMCC said in a statement.

The deal follows an agreement between the UAE and Israel to work toward establishing normal relations, which the countries signed in Washington DC on September 15.

“This agreement paves the way for further collaboration across a range of commodities,” Ahmed Bin Sulayem, chairman of the Dubai Diamond Exchange, said Thursday in the statement.

Rough and polished diamonds valued at AED13.2 billion ($3.6 billion) were traded last year in Dubai, the UAE’s biggest city and commercial centre, according to the DMCC.

Under their agreement, the Israeli exchange will open a representative office in the building that houses Dubai’s exchange, which in turn will open a sales office in IDE’s headquarters at Ramat Gan in Tel Aviv.

The UAE and Israel are forging commercial links on a broad front. Dubai port operator DP World said Wednesday it would bid jointly with Israel Shipyards Industries to take over Israel’s Haifa Port, which the government is privatizing.

The biggest banks in Dubai and the UAE’s capital Abu Dhabi have also signed cooperation pacts with their Israeli counterparts.