Dubai Ruler amends some provisions of Dubai SME Law

 Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, has issued Law No. 16 to amend some provisions of Law No. 23 of 2009 on Dubai SME establishment.

Law No. 16 replaces Articles 7, 10 and 12 of the previous Law on Dubai SME establishment. As per the new text of Article 7, the mandate of Dubai SME includes policies and strategic plans for SME development; programmes and initiatives for entrepreneurial project development, and their implementation on a regular basis; determining the standards for project classification; identifying key areas of project support, and the development and implementation of support initiatives as necessary; providing the appropriate environment for public and private sector investment projects; creation and development of projects that contribute to the strategic objectives of Dubai SME, including business incubators.

As per the new law, provisions in Article 7 also include evaluation of existing projects and identifying the main obstacles to growth; development of awareness programmes to encourage entrepreneurship and development; co-ordination with banks and financial institutions to facilitate financing, as well as co-ordination with external suppliers to provide support and advisory services for members; establishing companies, owning rental property, laying down licensing standards for business incubators in line with entrepreneur’s needs; supporting innovative initiatives in Dubai, and providing consultancy, development training and business incubation services for such initiatives, in addition to any other functions as may be necessary to enable the organisation achieve its objectives.

The new text of Article 10 relates to licences issued to Dubai SME members. Dubai SME can issue licences to members, based on the following conditions: The member must pay an annual fee of AED1,000 for the first three years of the licence, and AED2,000 a year for the fourth and fifth years, and shall be liable to pay any other fee during the first five years.

The law states that citizens of other GCC States will be treated in the same way as the UAE citizens in matters relating to membership, provided they comply with requirements laid down by Dubai SME.

Article 12 states that all entities owned by the Government of Dubai, or in which the Government of Dubai has ownership of more than 25 per cent, are committed to exempting Emirati entrepreneurs from any registration fees for being a preferred supplier. It allocates 10 per cent purchases to the UAE nationals; and 5 per cent of the rental spaces for outlets owned by Dubai SME members provided they fulfill the eligibility criteria; giving priority to bids submitted by Dubai SME members if the bid value does not exceed 5 per cent than the best bid submitted.

The article states a minimum of 20 per cent reduction on rentals to Dubai SME members during the first three years of the lease and to notify Dubai SME of any support applicable to members.

The law annuls any other legislation that contradicts the provisions of this law. The Law will be effective from the date of publication in the Official Gazette.