Dubai sees over 126% rise in new businesses launched during Q1

The number of new businesses that launched in Dubai during the first quarter of the year increased by 126.5 per cent year-on-year, according to figures from Dubai Economy (previously called Department of Economic Development – DED).

New businesses launched in Q1 reached 308, compared to 136 in Q1 2016.

Dubai Economy also saw a 12 per cent year-on-year rise in business licences issued during the first three months of 2017, it said.

Total number of licences issued in Q1 2017 was 5,387, up from 4,808 in Q1 2016.

Altogether, Dubai Economy handled 63,353 licencing transactions in Q1 2017, up 1.5 per cent year-on-year.

Trade name reservations saw a 0.6 per cent hike to 10, 437 while a 52.1 per cent increase – from 330 to 502 – was also seen in the number of certificates issued to businesses for various purposes.

“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 and Licensing (BRL) in Dubai Economy.

“Dubai Economy 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,” he added.

The number of licences that got renewed in the first quarter stood at 6,720 – up 14 per cent – while another 6,668 licences were amended and 7,063 initial approvals were issued during the same period.

The outsourced service centres of BRL handled 24,847 licence renewals, while BRL’s auto renewal system was used by 10,595 applicants during the first quarter.

The auto renewal system requires customers to SMS their licence 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 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.

“We will continue to launch more of such service innovations,” he added.

Also read: Dubai issues over 26,700 new business licences in 2016

The UAE topped the Middle East and North Africa region in the World Bank’s 2017 Doing Business ranking.

The Emirates took 26th place in the ranking of 190 countries – up from 34th place in the previous ranking – after improvements in a number of areas.

Read more: UAE climbs to 26th in World Bank’s Doing Business ranking