Dubai issues close to 2,600 new business licences in May, creating over 8,300 jobs

Dubai’s Department of Economic Development (DED) issued 2,599 new business licences during May 2019, up 50 per cent compared to May 2018 (1,736).

The new licences created 8,348 jobs in the labour market, DED’s Business Registration and Licensing (BRL) sector said in a statement.

Among the new licences issued, 54.7 per cent were professional, 42.7 per cent were commercial, 1.8 per cent related to tourism and 0.8 per cent to industry.

The report found that the top nationalities who secured licences were Bangladeshis, followed by Indians, Pakistanis, Egyptians, Britons, Chinese, Saudis, Jordanians, Filipinos and Lebanese.

In terms of sectors, real estate, leasing and business services accounted for 35 per cent of the new licences issued in May, followed by trade and repair services (28.6 per cent), community and personal services (13.3 per cent), building and construction (9.8 per cent), transport, storage and communications (4.3 per cent), hotels group (3.7 per cent), manufacturing (1.9 per cent), financial brokerage (1.7 per cent), health and labour (1 per cent), education (0.4 per cent), and agriculture (0.3 per cent).

In terms of locations, Bur Dubai accounted for the largest share for new licences at 1,582, followed by Deira (1,014), and Hatta (3).

BRL also issued 187 instant licences, which are handed in a single step without the need for either the MOA (Memorandum of Association) or an existing location for the first year only, while the number of DED trader licences during May reached 144.

Overall, 24,992 business registration and licencing transactions were completed in May, with the outsourced service centres of DED accounting for 72 per cent of them at 17,983 transactions.

The report showed that licence renewal accounted for 11,133 transactions during the month, followed by auto renewal via text messages (5,315 transactions), trade name reservation (3,676) and initial approvals (3,086).

DED issued 9,489 new business licences during January-April 2019, up 35 per cent compared to the same period in 2018, it announced last week.

The entity also said it is currently finalising a project to establish the region’s first-of-its-kind virtual commercial city where licences will be granted without requiring residency in Dubai and in accordance with international legal standards.

Read: Dubai finalising project to issue business licences without residency