Dubai Economy Issues 19,877 New Licenses In 2017

Business Map’ records 289,878 transactions, including 128,965 license renewals as Dubai retains its attractiveness as a business hub

As Dubai retained its attractiveness as a competitive and sustainable business hub in 2017, the Business Registration & Licensing (BRL) sector in Dubai Economy witnessed 288,878 transactions, including 19,877 new licenses, during the entire year, shows activity recorded on the ‘Business Map’ digital platform.

The ‘Business Map’ tracks BRL activity and seeks to reflect the economic realities in Dubai by providing vital data on each category of licenses including their numbers and category-wise distribution as well as investor trends on a monthly basis.

Renewal of licenses accounted for 128,965 transactions in 2017 while there were also 26,029 Initial Approval transactions and 38,223 Trade Name Reservations. Auto Renewals constituted 47,125 transactions, Instant Licenses 684, and e-Trader licenses 616.

The year also saw 24,123 transactions related to Commercial Permits and out of them 35.1% were banner advertisements, indicating strong competition among companies in marketing their products and services. Promotional campaigns had a 23.3% share, followed by discounts, special offers and clearance (22%), summer promotions (14.0%) and exhibitions (2.5%).

The new licenses issued in 2017 were distributed across sectors as follows: Commercial (64.3%), Professional (33.8%), Industrial (1.1%) and Tourism (0.9%).

The outsourced service centres of Dubai Economy played a major role in service delivery accounting for almost 80% (231,902) of the BRL transactions in 2017.

Area-wise Bur Dubai and Deira topped the list of new licenses issued with a share of 9,032 each, followed by New Dubai (1,753) and Hatta (70). The top ten sub-regions that had 51.5% of the new licenses are as follows: Burj Khalifa (12.8%), New Dubai (8.8%), Al Marar (6.9%), Naif (5%), Port Saeed (4.5%), Trade Centre 1 (3.7%), Hor Al Anz East (3%), Al Garhoud (2.4%), Al Barsha (2.3%), Al Karama (2.1%).

The distribution and diversity of business activity monitored in 2017 further confirms Dubai’s pre-eminence as a business destination in terms of competitiveness and sustainability. Trade and repair services accounted for 33.8% of the economic activities in the emirate, followed by real estate, leasing and business services (22.4%), building and construction (15.2%), community and personal services (10.8%), hospitality and hotels (6.3%), transport and storage (3.2%), manufacturing (2.9%), financial brokerage (2.2%), health and labour as well as agriculture (0.7% each), and education had a 0.6% share.

Among the new licenses issued in 2017 12% went to women. The top nationalities among the new license holders were Indians, Pakistanis, and Egyptians, followed by Saudis, Britons and GCC nationals. Saudis ranked second in terms of market share, followed by Omanis, Kuwaitis and finally Bahrainis in that order.

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