The Business Registration and Licensing (BRL) sector of the Department of Economic Development (DED), Dubai, issued 4,459 new licenses in February 2020 that created 11,877 jobs in the labor market. Among the new licenses issued, 72.4% were professional, 26.1% commercial, 1.1% related to tourism and 0.4% industry. Deira accounted for the largest share (2,573), according to the distribution of the licenses in the main areas followed by Bur Dubai (1,883), and Hatta (3) licences.

DED confirmed that the emirate’s economic competitiveness and its ability to attract investors to grow and expand their businesses in various economic sectors have been further strengthened in 2020, as the businessmen who secured new licenses in February 2020 included those from Britain, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, The Philippines and Sudan.

The ‘Business Map’ digital platform of DED saw 32,740 business registration and licensing transactions being completed in the month of February 2020, while the outsourced service centres of DED issued 24,546 transactions, a 75% of the total BRL transactions issued during the month of February 2020, thus demonstrating their vital role in delivering value-added services to the public in Dubai.

The report showed that License Renewal accounted for 12,568 transactions in February 2020, while 6,224 transactions were related to Auto Renewal via text messages. On the other hand, the number of Trade Name Reservation was 5,770, while the number of Initial Approvals reached 4,810, and the number of Commercial Permits reached 1,494 permits.

The BRL also issued 218 instant licenses in February 2020. The Instant License, which won the ‘Flag’ of the Hamdan bin Mohammed Programme for Smart Government 2019, is issued in a single step without the need for either the Memorandum of Association or an existing location for the first year only. On the other hand, the number of DED Trader licenses, which allow to conduct business activities on websites and social media channels, reached 335 in February 2020.

The top sub-regions, which accounted for 63.5% of all the transactions, in February 2020 were: Al Garhoud (19.6%), Burj Khalifa (10.7%), Oud Al Muteena 3 (9.8%), Trade Centre 1 (7.8%), Umm Al Ramool (2.9%), Port Saeed (2.9%), Al Marrar (2.6%), Naif (2.4%), Al Qubaisi (2.4%) and Al Fahidi (2.4%).

Real estate, leasing & business services accounted for 50% of the economic activities licensed in February 2020, followed by: Trade & repair services (21.7%), Building & construction (9.7%), Community & personal services (6.9%), Transport, storage & communications (3.4%), Hotels group (3%), Manufacturing (2.4%), Financial brokerage (0.9%), Contracting group (0.8%), Education (0.5%), Health & labour (0.4%), and Agriculture (0.3%).

The Business Map, www.dubaibusinessmap.ae, seeks to reflect the economic realities in Dubai by providing vital data on each license category including their numbers and distribution as well as investor trends on a monthly basis. It also includes an interactive guide explaining the geographic distribution and concentration of major business activities and the rate of urban growth in terms of expanding neighbourhoods and business licenses.