Ministry of Economy launches unified family business registry

The Ministry of Economy launched a unified registry for family businesses, highlighting four new cabinet resolutions that will enhance the governance of family companies and support the competitiveness of the legislation governing the sector in the country. The initiative is also aimed at ensuring family businesses’ sustainability and leadership in accordance with a clear vision to solidify the UAE’s position as a leading destination for local, regional, and global family companies.

Abdullah Bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy, emphasised the outstanding role of family businesses in promoting the growth and sustainability of economies around the world. According to estimates, family businesses account for 70 percent of the private sector companies globally, 60 percent of the total workforce and 70 percent of the global GDP. In the UAE, the sector contributes 40 percent of the national GDP, making up 90 percent of the total number of private companies in the country. This underscores its importance and key role in supporting the achievement of the national goal to double the country’s GDP to Dhs 3 trillion by the next decade in accordance with the ‘We the UAE 2031’ vision.

Bin Touq said, “Thanks to the UAE’s wise leadership’s vision, a solid foundation has been laid to ensure the sustainability of family businesses and the growth of their businesses in the coming decades. The development of the family businesses sector in the UAE is being carried out in accordance with international best practices in this regard, through the promulgation of several legislation, proactive policies, initiatives and pioneering programmes, most notably the ‘Thabat’ programme. It is designed to ensure the sustainable growth of family enterprises in the country’s markets across successive generations and encourage them to expand into new economic sectors by taking advantage of all the opportunities and possibilities offered by the programme.”

He added, “The UAE’s family businesses are one of the main drivers promoting the growth and sustainability of the national economy, thus supporting the country’s transition towards a knowledge-based, innovative future economy. The launch of the unified registry for the sector is an important step forward in strengthening its governance and regulating registration procedures. This is necessary to build an integrated work system for family enterprises in the UAE in addition to the advanced legislation and technology infrastructure they currently benefit from. The introduction of the Family Charter is also key to the success and continuity of future generations of family companies, as it defines the rules of family ownership, goals and values, including mechanisms for assessing quotas and distribution of profits.”

Abdullah Ahmed Al Saleh, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Economy, said, “The UAE continues to develop sustainable economic policies for the development of the family businesses sector given its significance as a key driver of national economic growth, while also strengthening its competitiveness regionally and globally. We focus on two main pillars for the development of an integrated family business ecosystem in the country: the first is the legislative aspect and the development of robust legislation for family enterprises through the promulgation of proactive laws and leadership policies at the regional and global levels. The Federal Decree-Law No. 37 of 2022 on Family Businesses is an example, which established a roadmap for the governance of family enterprises and the regulation of their ownership and operations in the country.”

He continued, “The second area of focus is the launch of several policies, initiatives and programmes to facilitate the expansion of family companies. ‘Thabat,’ a first-of-its-kind programme in the Middle East, was launched to bring about a qualitative shift in the country’s family businesses sector and encourage them to shift towards new economic sectors.”

He added, “Over the past few days, we witnessed the largest gathering of first-generation family businesses under the umbrella of the programme, which aims to transform 200 family projects into fast-growing startups by 2030.”

Al Saleh added, “As part of the UAE’s continuing efforts to enhance the governance of the family businesses sector and to elevate it to new, more competitive and diverse levels, we are launching the unified registry for family businesses today. This registry serves as a comprehensive and unified database containing all information related to family companies in the country, under the supervision of the Ministry of Economy.”

The Undersecretary explained that the launch of the registry falls in line with the Cabinet Resolution No. 109 of 2023 on the registration of family businesses. It includes the registration of family businesses, the issuance and revocation of their leadership certificates, and continuous updates on the status of family businesses. This resolution specifies a set of controls and requirements related to the registration of the family business in the registry. For example, a family business should be one of the types of companies that are not exempted from the scope of the Family Business Law Decree, and the majority of its shares should be owned by individuals from a single family. The partners who own the majority of the shares of the family business decide to register it in the registry.