DUBAI: Dubai Economy saw a 12 per cent increase in business licenses issued during the first three months (Q1) of 2017 compared to the same period in 2016, indicating remarkable optimism among investors and stability across industry sectors. Total number of licenses issued in Q1 2017 was 5,387 as against 4,808 in Q1 2016 while new businesses that took off in Dubai also increased 126.5 per cent year-on-year, from 136 to 308. “New initiatives and innovative sectors being opened up as part of economic diversification and the Expo 2020 continue to provide vast opportunities for businesses and investors in the emirate,” said Omar Bushahab, CEO of Business Registration & Licensing (BRL) in Dubai Economy.
“Dubai Economy on its part has taken giant strides in enhancing ease of business and competitiveness as part of our strategic objective of enabling sustainable growth and positioning Dubai as the preferred investment destination,” added Bushahab. Altogether, the BRL sector handled 63,353 licensing transactions in Q1 2017 compared to 62,433 such transactions in Q1 2016, a 1.5 per cent increase. Trade name reservations saw a 0.6 per cent increase, from 10,376 to 10, 437. A 52.1 per cent increase – from 330 to 502 – was also seen in the number of certificates issued by BRL to businesses for various purposes between the two quarters. The number of licenses that amended their status and got renewed in Q1 2017 was 6,720, 14 per cent higher than the 5,897 licenses that underwent similar procedures in Q1 2016. Another 6,668 licenses were amended and 7,063 initial approvals were issued during the first three months of 2017. The outsourced service centres of BRL handled 24,847 license renewals alone in Q1 2017, as a significant number of investors continued to use the service centre network for BRL transactions. However, the Auto Renewal system of BRL was used by 10,595 applicants during Q1 2017 compared to 7,519 in Q1 2016 showing the growing popularity of the service.
“The Auto Renewal system introduced under our ‘Hassle-Free’ initiative had 1,193 users during the first quarter of 2015 and the Q1 2017 figure now shows an increase of 40.9 per cent. The service has contributed substantially to Dubai’s Smart City initiative and enhancing investor convenience,” Bushahab said. For auto renewal, customers SMS their license number to Dubai Economy on the number 6969 following which they will receive a payment authorisation. The customer can then pay the fees in any outlet manually or electronically through the link attached to the SMS. “The outsourced centres along with the Auto Renewal provide a variety of competitive service channels for investors in Dubai. We will continue to launch more of such service innovations to enable investors devote their time and resources to making the best use of the hub advantage of Dubai and growing their business,” concluded Bushahab.
