Dubai DED Issues 1,509 New Licences In September

India, Pakistan and China are among the top nationalities to secure new licences

The ‘Business Map’ digital platform of the Dubai Department of Economic Development (DED) saw 22,113 business registration and licensing transactions being completed during the month of September, an increase of 25% compared to August (17,710 transactions). This confirms the position of Dubai as a business and investment hub as well as the emirate’s advanced sustainability standards.

The Business Registration and Licensing (BRL) sector in DED issued 1,509 new licences during September 2018, an increase of 23.6% compared to August (1,221 licences), as Dubai remained a destination of choice for investment in diverse business sectors. Among the new licences issued, 64.1% were Commercial, 34.0% Professional, 1.1% related to Tourism and 0.8% Industrial.

BRL also issued 94 instant licences, an increase of 56.7% compared to August (60 licences). The Instant Licence is issued in a single step without the need for either the MOA (Memorandum of Association) or an existing location for the first year only.

The Business Map showed that Licence Renewal accounted for 11,072 transactions during September, an increase of 22.1% compared to August (9,071 transactions); 5,146 transactions were related to Auto Renewal via text messages, an increase of 20.5% compared to August (4,271 transactions).

The number of Trade Name Reservation was 2,790, an increase of 32.2% compared to August (2,111), while the number of Initial Approvals reached 1,969, a growth of 33.5% compared to August (1,475). The number of Commercial Permits reached 1,614, a growth of 19.8% compared to August (1,347).

The report showed that the top nationalities who secured licences in September 2018 were: India, followed by Pakistan, China, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, USA, Sudan and the Philippines.

The outsourced service centres of DED continued to witness hectic activity in September accounting for 14,694 transactions, a growth of 19.8% compared to August (12,262), demonstrating their vital role in delivering value-added services to the public in Dubai.

The report highlighted the distribution of the new licences during September 2018 according to the main areas in Dubai, with Bur Dubai accounting for the largest share (787), followed by Deira (721), and Hatta (1). The top sub-regions that accounted for 53.9% of all the transactions were: Burj Khalifa (12.9%), Al Marar (7.2%), Garhoud (6.7%), Port Saeed (6.4%), Dubai World Trade Centre 1 (4.6%) Naif (3.6%), Al Rigga (2.9%), Hor Al Anz (2.6%), Al Barsha 1 (2.5%), Al Karama (2.4%), and Al Wasl (2.1%).

Trade & repair services accounted for 35.9% of the new licences issued in September 2018 according to the distribution of economic activities, followed by Real estate, leasing & business services (29.0%), Building & Construction (18.4%), Community & personal services (12.1%), Hotels group (6.8%), Transport, storage & communications (4.0%), Financial brokerage (3.4%), Manufacturing (1.9%), Education (1.1%), Health & labour (0.7%), Agriculture (0.3%), and Mining & Natural Resources (0.1%).

The ‘Business Map’ tracks business registration and licensing in DED and seeks to reflect the economic realities in Dubai by providing vital data on each license category, including their numbers and distribution as well as investor trends on a monthly basis.

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