Dubai announces more economic incentives to buttress businesses

Inayat-ur-Rahman, Deputy Business Editor

Under the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council, has launched an economic stimulus package worth Dhs315 million.

The new package raises the value of business incentives introduced by the emirate’s government to Dhs7.1 billion.

The decision to launch the new stimulus package is based on the recommendations of the Dubai Economy Support Committee, chaired by Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Second Deputy Chairman of The Executive Council, to continue supporting all economic and business sectors in Dubai. The Dhs315 million package extends the validity of some of the initiatives announced in the previous stimulus packages for another six months, starting from January 2021 until June 2021.

Commenting on the occasion, Sheikh Hamdan said, “The Dubai Government continues to assess the current global economic situation and the various developments amid these exceptional circumstances to develop practical strategies that will enable us to efficiently mitigate the repercussions of the global pandemic on the economy.”

He added that the Government’s efforts to reduce the impact of the global crisis, accelerate the pace of recovery of economic sectors and provide necessary means to ensure business continuity, are in line with the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

“Despite the challenges imposed by the pandemic worldwide, our economy is steadily recovering. We have the capabilities and resources that enable us to achieve economic excellence and accelerate the recovery of our various business sectors. We are confident the next phase will bring new opportunities for entrepreneurs and investors,” Sheikh Hamdan said.

The initiatives included in the stimulus package approved by Sheikh Hamdan include exempting commercial establishments and hotels that did not benefit from the reduction in previous packages launched in 2020 from the market fees one time during 2021.

He directed that non-beach hotels and their restaurants are refunded 50% from the hotel sales fee as well as the Tourism Dirham Fee.

In the tourism, entertainment and events sector, the exemption from the fees charged for postponement and cancellation of recreational and sports events and activities, including conferences and exhibitions, has been extended.

The new package also extends the freeze on fees charged for ticket sales, issuing permits and other government fees imposed on entertainment and business events.

As per the approved initiatives, commercial licences can still be renewed without mandatory renewal of lease contracts. The package also includes extending the cancellation of the 25% down payment requirement for accepting installments of licencing fees and licence renewal every month. Additionally, nurseries leasing land lots from the Knowledge Fund Establishment will continue to benefit from the 50% reduction in land rent. His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, last month issued instructions extending tourist visas for one month without government fees, to address the difficulties faced by visitors due to the closure of some airports across the world.

The business community across the country warmly welcomed this great move, adding that the decision supports tourists and their families currently in the UAE to spend the festive season holidays.

As per the order, all tourists visiting the UAE will have their visas extended for one month without fees.

Dubai remains the center of attraction for many global sophisticated and smart investors. The beauty of Dubai’s real estate market is that transactions are happening every-day. Government is totally committed to adopt technology to move ahead much faster in a structure manner.

The recent announcement of 100% foreign ownership is very strategic and excellent move. Market has responded positively to the move set by the country.

The government looks totally committed to bring foreign investors to UAE and Dubai and to promote the country aggressively to the global investors who can leverage from it. UAE tends to benefit in the long run as it bolster aggregate demand and investment in the GDP equation. Most global investors view UAE favourably due to strong infrastructure and excellent business ambiance.

The UAE government has also taken various steps to promote logistics sector in the country. The World’s Logistics Passport specially attracted major industry players to the UAE and it will continue to contribute significant share to the country’s annual GDP.  New technologies are enabling greater efficiency and more collaborative operating models. The latest developments on Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain and other variants of the technology also re-shaping the industry in such a way that is only just beginning to become apparen.