Investor Confidence in Dubai Remains High as DED Issues 1,651 New Licenses in July

Investor confidence in Dubai as a competitive global hub and the business development potential in the emirate remained robust through the month of July 2018 with the Department of Economic Development (DED) witnessing 24,489 transactions related to business licensing and registration.  A total of 1,651 licenses were issued during the month in addition to 12,532 License Renewals and 2,175 Initial Approvals, according to data recorded on the ‘Business Map’ digital platform of DED’s Business Registration & Licensing (BRL) sector.

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.  Overall business registration and licensing (BRL) activity and its distribution across sectors and areas in the emirate reaffirms improved investor confidence in the expansionary spending policies and growth potential in Dubai.

Among the total transactions recorded in July 2018, 3,128 were related to Trade Name Reservation and 1,268 to Commercial Permits. Auto Renewal transactions amounted to 5,918, Instant Licenses to 101, and 102 transactions were related e-Trader licenses.

BRL activity in July 2018 reflected momentum across all sectors as new licenses covered the Commercial (60.5%), Professional (36.8%), Tourism (1.4%) and Industrial (1.3%) categories. The outsourced service centres of DED retained their edge in providing competitive services to BRL customers, accounting for 67% of the total transactions completed in July 2018.

The region-wise distribution of new licenses shows Bur Dubai accounted for the lion's share with 798  of the licenses, Deira had 712, New Dubai 133 and Hatta, eight. Among the top 10 sub-regions, Burj Khalifa had 14%, New Dubai 8%, Al Marar 5.9%, Port Saeed 5.8%, Dubai World Trade Centre 1 had 4.6%, Naif 4%, Al Garhoud 3.3%, Al Karama 2.8%, Al Muraqabat 2.1% and Hor Al Anz, 2.1%.

Construction sector accounted for 17.3% of the new licenses and Community & personal services for 13.6%, followed by Hotels group (7%), Transport, storage & communications (3.5%), Manufacturing, (2.9%), Financial brokerage (2.5%), Health, labour & education (0.9%), Agriculture (0.4%), and Mining (0.1%).

Indians, Pakistanis, Egyptians, Chinese, British, Saudis, Jordanians, Syrians, and Kuwaitis were the top nine nationalities of BRL customers in that order during July 2018.