The Business Registration & Licensing (BRL) sector in the Department of Economic Development (DED) in Dubai issued 1,185 new licenses and concluded more than 19,850 transactions during June 2018. The latest data, recorded on the ‘Business Map’ digital platform of BRL, indicates that the emirate continues attract businesses and investors as a competitive hub for sustainable business development.

The ‘Business Map’ tracks business registration and licensing in DED and 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.  Overall business registration and licensing (BRL) activity and its distribution across sectors and areas in the emirate re affirms improved investor confidence in the expansionary spending policies and growth potential in Dubai.

Renewal transactions accounted for about 11,043 transactions in the total during June 2018. Initial Approvals amounted to 1,579 in June 2018, and 2,372 were related to Trade Name Reservation. Auto Renewal of licences saw a steep increase with 5,314 transactions while 919 were related to Commercial Permits, 52 to Instant Licences and 74 to e-Trader licences.

The outsourced service centres accounted for 12568 transactions (48.2% of the total) reaffirming their popularity among customers mainly because of the enhanced convenience and reduced transaction times they provide. Average transaction time at the outsourced centres was 10 minutes as of June 2018 and overall, the centres continue to prove that outsourcing offers improved efficiencies.

Among the new licenses issued 61.9% were Commercial, 35.6% were Professional, 1.4% were Industrial and 1.1% were related to Tourism. Among the main regions, Bur Dubai was on top with a share of 558 new licences, Deira had 538 licenses, New Dubai had 87 and Hatta had two. The share of the top ten sub-regions that accounted for 51.8% of all regions in Dubai were as follows: Burj Khalifa (11.4% of the new licences), New Dubai (7.2%), Al Marar (5.6%), Port Saeed (4.7%), Naif (4.6%), Dubai World Trade Centre 1 (3.7%), Hor Al Anz (3.5%), Al Riqqa (3.2%), Al Garhoud (2.5%) and Al Muraqabat (2.4%).

The new licenses also confirm continued investment in all vital economic sectors in Dubai. Trade & repair services (37.8%) was the most licensed activity in June 2018 followed by Real estate, leasing and business services (25.1%), Construction (14.6%), Community & personal services (12.7%), Hotels group (7.5%) and Transport, storage & communications (3.7%), Manufacturing (3.6%), Financial Brokerage (2.9%), Education (0.9%), Agriculture (0.5%), and Mining (0.3%).

The top seven nationalities among BRL customers in June 2018 were Indians, Pakistanis and Egyptians, followed by Chinese, British, Saudis, Bangladeshis, Lebanese and Filipinos in that order.