The UAE moved up to be among the top five economies in the world in the “Trading Across Borders” topic of the World Bank’s “Doing Business” report for 2010. From its 13th rank in last year’s report, the country has surged to the 5th rank in the latest annual evaluation of 183 global economies.
The UAE also improved its overall World Bank ranking in “Ease of Doing Business” by 14 positions, from 47 in the 2009 to 33 in 2010 report, reflecting the strength of its trade flow strategies, which are efficiently supported by the innovative online services of Dubai Trade, the leading business facilitator under Dubai World.
Jamal Majid Bin Thaniah, Chief Executive Officer, Dubai World and Chairman of Dubai Trade, said: “By joining the world’s top five economies in cross border trade, the UAE has proved the excellence of its forward-looking policies on trade facilitation. The rise in overall ranking is reflective of the country’s all-round economic progress. The online solutions Dubai Trade has initiated played a vital part in enabling fast and efficient movement of goods across the border. This recognition by the World Bank strengthens our resolve in making Dubai and the UAE the most efficient trade hub in the world.”
“Doing Business” is World Bank’s annual project covering 183 economies providing an objective measure of business regulations and their enforcement. The economies are ranked by the index on the ease in doing business. This index relates to 10 different indicators, ranging from Starting a Business and Operating it to Closing it.. Higher rank reflects a regulatory environment supportive of business operations, which is a vital clue to prospective investors.
Since Dubai Trade has been associated with improving the facilitation of trade through the online portal www.dubaitrade.ae, the country has witnessed a dramatic increase in its rankings from 24 in 2008 to the present rank of 5 in the 2010 report, an increase of 19 positions. Dubai Trade works closely with World Bank in collecting the data for the “Doing Business” report. The comprehensive report on trade procedures in the UAE submitted by Dubai Trade’s stakeholders has played an important role in the World Bank’s evaluation, which is a result of the online service provider ’s adoption of a carefully designed, transparent procedure to collect data from the trading community.
Dubai Trade also allied with the established committees of the Dubai Executive Council, Prime Minister’s Office, Dubai Competitiveness Council and Emirates Competitiveness Council to validate the report findings.
In its 2009 report, World Bank described the trade process information submitted by the online service provider to be of “utmost quality, which is key to the success of the entire report.”
In collaboration with its partners, such as DP World, Jafza and Dubai Customs, Dubai Trade has been keenly promoting the concept of online transactions through its www.dubaitrade.ae portal to minimise the number of documents required to process import and export transactions, which contributed saving time as well as enhancing efficiency.
Mohammed Al Muallem, Senior Vice President and Managing Director of DP World, UAE Region, said: “The UAE’s remarkable achievement also bears the stamp of DP World’s committed efforts to enable easy business flow. Jebel Ali Port has a long history of comprehensive automation of operations. Our online initiatives such as e-payment and e-token services have greatly helped speedy business transactions. We are proud to be part of the country’s rise at a global level.”
Juma Al Gaith, the Executive Director of Customs Development Division said:” “We are pleased that Dubai Customs is a part of this achievement by the UAE at the international trade level. This is the product of a real partnership between the public and private sectors for supporting the supply chain related to customs, ports and free zones and for the purposes of simplifying procedures as well as delivering a higher quality services that support the single window policy in a manner that enhances the country’s position as an attractive destination for world investments.”
“Dubai Customs contribution to this global ranking reflects the organisational directives towards facilitating legitimate international trade and enhancing local economic development. Dubai Customs was the first government department to become a full-fledged electronic organisation. Currently, Dubai Customs delivers 100 per cent electronic services through Dubai Trade portal which greatly contributed to attracting more business for clearing goods destined to local markets and the other regional markets via Dubai,” he he added.
Mahmood Al Bastaki, Director, Dubai Trade, said: “The UAE, through its forward-looking trade policies, has beaten even larger economies of the world to reach the top-five level. Dubai Trade, with its innovative business flow initiatives, will continue to offer creative initiatives to facilitate and enhance the trade activities and achieve its goal to make the UAE number one and the most preferred global hub for all cross border trade. What drives our commitment is the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, who said, ‘Does anyone ever remember the second man who landed on the moon or the second man who climbed Mt Everest?’”
