Dubai Economy records brisk licensing and registration activity

The Business Registration & Licensing (BRL) sector in Dubai Economy witnessed a record number of transactions over November 2017, reflecting a strong confidence in the emirate’s competitiveness and sustainable growth among businesses and investors in diverse industries.

‘Business Map,’ the digital information platform of Dubai Economy, reported that more than 24,746 BRL transactions were concluded and 1,666 new business licenses were issued in November.

The Business Map platform seeks to reflect the economic climate in Dubai by providing vital data on each category of licenses and investor trends on a monthly basis. The report provides extensive data that mirror Dubai's business realities including accurate information on the number of new licenses and their sector-wise distribution.

Renewal transactions accounted for 11,623 of the transactions in November, Initial Approvals amounted to 2,170 in November, 2017, and there were 3,261 renewals. Commercial permit procedures accounted for 2,783 transactions while there were also 1,774 related to Auto Renewal, 149 Instant Licenses and 63 eTrader licenses were also handled by BRL during the month.

Overall BRL activity in November shows that Dubai economy maintained its growth and achieved a qualitative shift in various categories. Transactions related to Commercial licenses topped the list with 59.2%, Professional licenses stood at 38.5%, Industrial licenses accounted for 1.2% and Tourism had a share of 1.1%. The outsourced service centres of Dubai Economy also registered strong activity in November, completing 19,997 transactions and underlining their role in facilitating service delivery.

Region-wise, Bur Dubai had the lion share of licenses (762) issued in November, Deira had 721, New Dubai area had 177 and Hatta had six.

The top ten sub-regions accounted for 53.2% of the total licenses among all the regions in Dubai. These were: Burj Khalifah (12%), New Dubai (10%), Al Marar (9%), Port Said (4.3%), Naif (3.5%), Al Mankhool (3.5%), Hor Al Anz (3.1%), Trade Centre 1 (2.9%), Al Barsha 1 (2.8%) and Al Garhoud (2.1%).

The various categories of BRL activity in November 2017 also indicate economic activity and investments almost equally distributed across different areas and vital sectors in Dubai, thus confirming the significant achievements the emirate has made in terms of sustainability. Commercial and repair services accounted for 23.5% of activities covered by the transactions during the period, followed by real estate, leasing and business services (22.4%), building and construction activity (14.9%), community and personal services (11.3%), hospitality and hotels (5.8%), manufacturing (2.5%), Transportation, storage and communications (2.4%), financial brokerage (2.3%), and health and education (both 0.5%)