Commercial licensing grows by 22% in first half of current year

The Department of Planning and Development - Trakhees, the regulatory arm of the Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation, completed about 16,000 transactions through its Licensing Department during the first half of 2022, registering a growth of 22 per cent as against the same period last year.

The Licencing Department provides corporate licensing services to local and free zones and government bodies including issuing work permits, establishment cards and no-objection certificates (NOC).

Abdulla Belhoul, CEO of the Department of Planning and Development - Trakhees, explained that Trakhees achieved remarkable growth with all services provided by the Licensing Department in the commercial licencing sectors in its private development areas.

He noted that Trakhees is keen to promote economic growth and achieve the Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation’s vision, to strengthen Dubai’s position as a leading sustainable hub to support the economic sector at the global level.

Belhoul pointed out the keenness of the Trakhees to implement the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and  Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to support the economy and enhance Dubai’s position as a preferred global investment destination. In addition, for the benefit of individuals and companies and in cooperation with various partners, Trakhees seeks to develop and expand the services it provides, such as issuing commercial licences, work permits, and other documents, to keep pace with the aspirations of business leaders and investors in the emirate.

Belhoul added, “To reassure the support of the Department of Planning and Development - Trakhees towards providing the required services for projects and small and medium enterprises according to the highest standards, the department received 1,029 transactions to reserve a new trade name, at the level of local and free zone licences, during the first half of 2022 in private development areas that fall under the supervision of the Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation.”

The official statistics issued by the Licencing Department indicated growth in the demand for local licencing services by customers, both individuals and companies, to reach 7,067 transactions from January to June of this year. The local licence renewal service ranked first with 3,426 transactions, followed by local licence amendments with 1,063 transactions. Booking a new trade name registered 951 transactions, followed by new local licences with 627 transactions.

In the same context, International City ranked first in the list of sites that obtained local licencing transactions with 203 licences, followed by Jumeirah Village Circle in second place, Palm Jumeirah, Dragon Market, and finally Palm Deira.

At the level of government services transactions, the statistics indicated a growth during the first half of 2022, which was accompanied by a rise in the number of work permits issued by the department, reaching 3,440 approved in Dubai, followed by 1,270 transactions related to permit renewal.

In terms of free zone licences, the license renewal service ranked first in the list of services requested by dealers in this speciality, reaching 527 transactions from January to June 2022. This was followed by 185 commercial permits and 78 transactions for reserving a trade name under the category of free zone licences.

Belhoul stressed that Trakhees is keen to facilitate the process of requesting and extracting various commercial licences by implementing a package of procedures and improvements carried out by the department in its unified electronic system for issuing commercial licences, in addition to adopting a culture of excellence in performance to ensure the happiness and satisfaction of customers by reducing the customer’s time to obtain these services. The official statistics issued by the Licencing Department indicated growth in the demand for local licencing services by customers, both individuals and companies, to reach 7,067 transactions from January to June of this year

Meanwhile, the net investments of non-Arab foreigners in local stocks rose to over Dhs15.54 billion since the start of 2022, in light of the UAE’s investment attractiveness and the strong performance of listed companies, supported by the strength and robustness of the country’s economic foundations.

According to Abu Dhabi and Dubai financial markets, non-Arab foreign investors purchased local stocks worth Dhs70.276 billion from the beginning of the year to the end of last week, compared to sales of some Dhs54.733 billion during the same period, with a net investment of Dhs15.54 billion as purchase proceeds.

The figures also showed that the purchases of non-Arab foreign investors in the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange amounted to some AED51.517 billion since the start of this year, compared to sales of about Dhs37.843 billion, with a net investment of Dhs13.673 billion as a purchase outcome.

WAM