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DUBAI / WAM
The Department of Economic Development (DED), in Dubai witnessed increasing business registration and licencing activities during the month of March 2018, reaffirming the emirate’s position as a preferred place for business start-ups and expansions.
According to the ‘Business Map’ digital platform of DED, more than 26,410 business registration and licencing (BRL), transactions were completed in March, compared to 23,407 in February 2018, while the number of new licences issued also jumped from 1,646 to 1,844 between the two months.
The increase in BRL activity and its distribution across business sectors and areas underlines improved investor confidence in the expansionary spending policies and economic performance in Dubai, as well as the emirate’s potential to enable and sustain business growth.
Renewal of licences accounted for 12,694 BRL transactions in March 2018, while 3,281 transactions were related to Trade Name Reservation. Initial approval transactions amounted to 2,231 and there were also 2,018 auto renewals, 108 instant licences and 139 e-Trader licences in the overall activity list.
Commercial licences topped the list of BRL activities in March 2018 at 62.2 percent, followed by the Professional (34.9 percent), Industrial (1.6 percent) and Tourism (1.3 percent) licences. The outsourced service centres of BRL performed remarkably well, handling 21,582 (81.7 percent ) of the total transactions and reaffirming their role and relevance in providing competitive services to DED customers.
Among the major regions within the emirate, Bur Dubai accounted for the lion’s share of new licences (848), followed by Deira (847), New Dubai (141) and Hatta (8). The share of the top 10 sub-regions that accounted for 51.7 percent of all transactions were as follows: Burj Khalifa (11.2 percent), New Dubai (8.3 percent), Al Marar (6.4 percent), Naif (5.1 percent), Port Saeed (4.2 percent), Hor Al Anz (4.1 percent), Dubai World Trade Centre 1 (3.8 percent), Al Garhoud (3.4 percent), Al Karama (2.6 percent) and Al Khubaisi (2 percent).
Almost all major business sectors and activities were covered by the BRL transactions over March 2018. Trade and repair services accounted for 38.8 percent of the transactions, while Real Estate, Leasing and Business Services (23.1 percent), Construction (13.5 percent ), Community and Personal Services (11.1 percent), Hotels Group (7.1 percent), Transport, Storage and Communications (3.8 percent), Manufacturing (3.3 percent), Financial Brokerage (2.3 percent), and Agriculture, Education, Health and Labour (0.6 percent each) had their shares, also.