Dubai DED issues 2,394 new licences in June

Business Bureau, Gulf Today

In a sign of continuing investor confidence in Dubai and new opportunities arising across diverse economic sectors, the Department of Economic Development (DED) in the emirate issued 2,394 new licenses for various professional, commercial, industrial and tourism activities in June 2019. According to the Business Registration and Licensing (BRL) sector in DED 58.5% of the new licences were professional, 38.9% commercial, 1.9% related to tourism and 0.7% industry, and together, they created 7,598 jobs in the labour market.

The ‘Business Map’ digital platform of DED, which seeks to reflect the economic realities in Dubai by providing vital data on each license category including their numbers and distribution on a monthly basis, saw 22,759 business registration and licensing transactions being completed during June 2019. The outsourced service centres of DED accounted for 19,912 transactions - 87% of the total - thus demonstrating their vital role in delivering value-added services to the public in Dubai.

The report showed that License Renewal accounted for 10,417 transactions in June 2019, including 5,335 (51.2%) transactions related to Auto Renewal via text messages.

The June 2019 transactions also showed that Trade Name Reservation accounted for 3,593 transactions, while the number of Initial Approvals reached 2,905. The total number of Commercial Permits reached 906 in June 2019.

BRL also issued 250 instant licenses, which is processed in a single step without the need for either the Memorandum of Association‭ ‬or an existing location for the first year, while the number of DED Trader licenses, which allows to conduct business activities on social media, reached 219 in June 2019.

The report also showed that the top nationalities who secured licenses in June 2019 were: Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Egypt, Britain, China, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, The Philippines and Lebanon in that order.

The Bur Dubai area accounted for for the largest share (1,399) of licences issued in June 2019, followed by Deira (993), and Hatta (2). The top sub-regions, which accounted for 64.8% of all the transactions, were: Al Garhoud (13.4%), Al Barsha 1 (12.2%), Burj Khalifa (10.3%), Al Fahidi (10.1%), Port Saeed (5.3%), Dubai World Trade Centre 1 (3.0%), Oud Metha (3.0%), Umm Al Ramoul (2.8%), Al Marar (2.8%), and Naif (1.9%).

Real estate, leasing & business services accounted for 38.8% of the new licenses issued in June 2019 according to the distribution of economic activities, followed by Trade & repair services (27.1%), Community & personal services (12.6%), Building & Construction (8.3%), Transport, storage & communications (4.5%), Hotels group (3.4%), Manufacturing (2.4%), Financial brokerage (1.5%), Health & labour (0.6%), Education (0.5%), and Agriculture (0.3%).

The Department of Economic Development (DED) is the government body entrusted to set and drive the economic agenda of the emirate of Dubai, UAE. DED supports the structural transformation of Dubai into a diversified, innovative service-based economy that aims to improve the business environment and accelerate productivity growth. DED and its agencies develop economic plans and policies, identify and support the growth of strategic sectors, and provide services to domestic and international investors and businesses.

Meanwhile, The Commercial Compliance & Consumer Protection (CCCP) Sector in Dubai Economy is adopting a new technology based on artificial intelligence (AI) to fight counterfeiting in Dubai. Developed by the US company ‘Entrupy,’ the new technology will help detect counterfeit goods sold across shops in Dubai. The new technology is being adopted in line with the directive of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum to integrate artificial intelligence in the pursuit of excellence across government services and as part of the strategic objective of Dubai Economy to enhance competitiveness and sustainability through protecting the rights of consumers and trademark owners.

Entrupy’s AI-based device is linked to a vast database comprising thousands of microscopic images of branded goods, particularly leather products, watches and accessories as well as clothing. The company will add more branded products to its interface in co-ordination with Dubai Economy by the last quarter of 2019.

Mohammed Ali Rashid Lootah, CEO of CCCP, said Dubai Economy will be the first government entity in the UAE and the region to adopt AI solutions to fight counterfeiting. «The new technology helps to increase the accuracy in confiscations and save time and effort during field inspections, thereby enhancing happiness and productivity among our employees.»

Lootah added that the new solution is a qualitative addition to the AI technology adopted in 2018 to protect and empower consumers Dubai to the satisfaction of businesses and consumers.

With the new device the inspector can detect counterfeit goods with high speed and accuracy thereby eliminating time-consuming communication and verification with trademark representatives.