Growth rate for commercial licences reaches 41% in Ajman during 2021

The growth rate of the number of economic licences issued by the Department of Economic Development in Ajman (Ajman DED) during the current year reached 41 per cent, while the number of establishments reached 27,913, and the Labour Resilience Index reached 17 per cent.

The efforts and initiatives launched by the Ajman DED have resulted in a high growth rate of the Taziz Programme to about 238 per cent.

The department continues its efforts to support the industrial sector, attract investments, promote industrial products, and encourage owners of medium and small projects while opening new horizons for entrepreneurship.

In this regard, Abdulla Ahmed Al Hemrani Alshamsi, Director-General of Ajman DED, said, “The department has made unremitting efforts during the current year to develop the economic and industrial sectors to push the wheel of comprehensive development through many initiatives,” pointing to the department’s efforts in developing digital services and achieving a percentage of 88 per cent on the Customer Satisfaction Index regarding the services provided through the website.

The change rate for all services was 100 per cent, which contributed to saving time and effort for investors in addition to providing distinguished services to them.

Al Hemrani added that the Ajman DED supports the industrial sector, where factories in the emirate reached 1,047. The industrial sector constitutes 20 per cent of the emirate’s GDP.

The department has provided many initiatives that support exporters in the emirate, including Logistics Passport Services, which benefitted 105 beneficiaries.

A cooperation agreement was also concluded with Abu Dhabi regarding exports to support exporting, where the number of beneficiaries reached 16 beneficiaries.

He stated that the department signed 54 agreements during the current year, and the percentage of partners’ satisfaction reached 85 per cent, while the department’s satisfaction rate with the partners was 81 per cent. The partnership effectiveness rate was 98 per cent, while the total transactions resulting from partnerships amounted to 174,671 transactions.

Al Hemrani stressed that the department spared no effort in fully supporting investors and owners of SMEs, through several initiatives, including events and exhibitions, among which was the participation in the Fifty Exhibition, an initiative in Ajman that promotes owners of SMEs, where 45 beneficiaries have benefitted from the initiative, and “The Best” initiative, which enhanced competitiveness among project owners to provide the best to customers.

He also noted that the department contributed to employing the unemployed with a rate of 8.5 per cent through the Taziz Programme, which carried out 144 feasibility studies for various projects, seven per cent of which were converted to existing projects that support the economic development.

Earlier in August the Department of Economic Development in Ajman (Ajman DED) has revealed the operational performance results for the first half of 2021, compared to the same period last year.

The results showed a significant increase in the number of new licences, with 2,271 new licences issued, a 117 per cent increase over the first half of 2020, where 1,047 new licences were issued, said an Ajman DED press release issued.

The index of issuing commercial permits also increased by 29 per cent, with 24,612 commercial permits issued during the first half of 2021, compared to 19,116 permits issued during the first half of 2020.

Abdullah Ahmed Al Hamrani, Director-General of the Ajman DED, commented that the department, thanks to the leadership and its support for the economic sector through many economic incentives, was able to overcome the negative consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, which was apparent in the results.

“Consequently, Ajman became an emirate enjoying competitive capabilities, making it an ideal economic destination for the business and investment community,” he said.

Al Hamrani added that it is expected to witness an increase in the volume of investments in the coming period due to recent amendments to the Companies Act, which allows foreign investors 100 per cent ownership in nearly 1000 activities.

For his part, Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser Al Nuaimi, Director of Business Development Division at Ajman DED, said the department is very keen to provide a favourable and motivating climate and a supporting investment environment for large, medium, and small entrepreneurs.

“Moreover, the department supports exporters and provides an enabling environment for exporting companies to grow their businesses and market their products locally and internationally. This was evident in the ability of Ajman DED to achieve a marked growth in the volume of exports of the Emirate from around Dhs782.7 million during the first half of 2020, to AED1.022 billion as total export volumes during the first half of 2021, with an increase of 30 per cent,” he added.