DED Dubai Issues 4,057 New Licenses - September 2019

DED Dubai Issues 4,057 New Licenses – September 2019

The business activity report issued by the Business Registration and Licensing (BRL) division at the Department of Economic Development (DED) stated that there were 4,057 licenses issued in September of 2019, having a positive impact on job market and leading to approximately 12,000 new jobs

The business license renewals for the same period accounted to 11,590 transactions, among which 5,755 (50%) were automatically renewed. The report also suggested that there were 5,371 trade name reservation transactions and 4,515 initial license approvals. The number of new business registrations and renewals in Dubai demonstrated a strong investor confidence in the UAE along with the increased business and job opportunities that the country offers.

New Business Licenses – Insights

Approximately 52 per cent of the new licenses were issued to real estate, leasing & business services, followed by trade services (23.4%), community services (7.4%), construction (7.3%), transport & logistics (3.2%), hotels (2.8%), manufacturing (1.4%), financial brokerage (1.1%), contracting (0.5%), health/labour (0.4%), education (0.4%), and agriculture (0.2%). It was also noted that 65.6 per cent of these licenses were professional, while 34.5 per cent of the licenses were commercial.

The top nationalities that secured the new licenses were from Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. They were followed by Egypt, Britain, China, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and the USA. Majority of the licenses that were renewed were in Bur Dubai, Deira and Hatta, followed by Dubai Investments Park 1, Al Garhoud and Port Saeed.

Dubai – Economic Activity & Performance

The strong increase in number of business registered can be attributed to several factors, with the initiatives taken by the Dubai government such as 10-years visa plan, 100 per cent ownership for foreign investors and companies, new visa reforms to radically reduce the employee visa cost and tariff reductions for large, medium and small-sized enterprise along with the EXPO 2020, which is to happen in Dubai next year, being the primary reasons. The trends are expected to continue, as the DED consistently improves and facilitates the ease of business registration.

UAE ranked 16^th in the global Ease of Doing Business for the year 2020, among 190 countries. Despite the drop in ranking compared to 2019, the World Bank report makes a special mention for reforms such as reducing the fees for business incorporation, easier construction permits by using a risk-based approach to reduce the number of inspections, improving minority investor protection, ease of paying taxes, making trading across borders easier etc. These reforms could be attributed to the increase in business registrations in Dubai.

Investment Opportunities in Dubai

DED has always been proactive in diversifying Dubai’s economy and becoming an investment-friendly destination, offering an attractive investment environment to international companies that are looking to tap into the Gulf region. Despite the economic fluctuations in the region, the strong growth in new business registrations forecasts an optimistic scenario for the next few years. Furthermore, Dubai is continuously upgrading its infrastructure including modern airports, hotels, public facilities and economic zones, as it strives to become an international business destination.

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