The Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) in Dubai, recently hosted a virtual workshop with over 15leading e-commerce players, including Noon.com and Amazon, to update them on the latest e-commerce initiatives rolled out by the E-commerce Committee under the Dubai Economic Acceleration Unit (EAU).

First in a series of similar initiatives by DET, the workshop was also aimed to solicit feedback from businesses, including small and medium enterprises and multinationals, on the e-commerce initiatives in Dubai.DET is collaborating with various government entities, free zones and local businesses to ensure an enabling environment for e-commerce companies in the city.

The initiatives discussed at the workshop included simplification of the VAT registration process, allowing 24-hour mainland warehouse operations, streamlining the bill of exit inspection process and reducing bill of exit costs for wholesalers and ecommerce businesses, integrating sea and air freight facilitating development of parcel lockers across the city, and other services that will improve Dubai’s status as an e-commerce and logistics hub, as well as enhance the competitiveness of smaller home-grown ecommerce business.

The Economic Acceleration Unit (EAU) was constituted recently under the directive of His Highness Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, to ensure optimal implementation of the strategic initiatives developed under the Dubai Economic Plan 2030 for post-pandemic economic recovery.

The EAU is working directly with public and private sector stakeholders to accelerate improvement and investment attraction initiatives for the city of Dubai. E-Commerce being a key focus area for EAU, the Ecommerce Committee serves as a pan government collaborative body driving Dubai’s vision for e-commerce and its enablement, attraction and growth.

The interactive session hosted by DET was also attended by multiple government entities, including Dubai Customs, Ports, Customs & Free Zone Corporation(PCFC), and Dubai Municipality. Dubai South kicked off the session to provide an overview of the state of the e-commerce sector, while dubriefed the businesses on the related initiatives and their expected benefits.