Dubai issues over 26,700 new business licences in 2016

Dubai’s Department of Economic Development (DED) issued 26,707 new business licences in 2016, as it introduced new measures to ease the setting up of new businesses.

The number of licences renewed in 2016 stood at 107,043 while 20,873 initial approvals were issued and 38,918 trade named were reserved.

The data was released by the Business Registration and Licensing (BRL) sector in DED, official news agency WAM reported.

The numbers indicate that “commercial activity in the emirate is growing sustainably with further investment and expansion continuing in various business sectors,” the report stated.

Omar Bushahab, CEO of the BRL sector, said: “The Department of Economic Development has brought in substantial improvements in customer services in terms of speed and quality and this has enhanced the competitiveness across our branches and outsourced centres, leading to greater happiness and satisfaction among customers.”

The average waiting time for customers at DED service centres is seven minutes and 90 per cent of the customers said it was less than seven minutes, the report stated.

While complex transactions take around 30 minutes, regular transactions are set to be completed within 10 minutes and speed transactions within five minutes.

Another new initiative introduced was the auto renewal system, under which customers can SMS their licence number to DED on the number 6969 for renewal. After they send a message, they receive a payment authorisation in reply. The customers can then pay the fees in any outlet manually or electronically through the link sent in the message.

“The Auto Renewal system introduced under our ‘Hassle-Free’ initiative received 62,115 messages in 2016 and it shows the level of response to such initiatives from our customers,” said Bushahab.

This year will see the launch of further new initiatives to improve ease of business and meet the needs of investors.

The new steps are aimed to achieve a “quantum leap” in the business environment of Dubai and they will improve investor confidence and attract new regional and international enterprises to the emirate, he added.

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