The Business Registration and Licensing (BRL) sector in the Dubai Department of Economic Development (DED) issued 1,898 new licenses during October 2018, an increase of 25.8% compared to September (1,509 licenses), as Dubai remained a destination of choice for investment in diverse business sectors. Among the new licenses issued, 62.1% were Commercial, 35.5% Professional, 1.4% related to Industrial and 1% Tourism.

The ‘Business Map’ digital platform of DED, which 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, saw 27,265 business registration and licensing transactions being completed during the month of October, an increase of 23.3% compared to September (22,113 transactions).

BRL also issued 126 instant licences, an increase of 34% compared to September (94 licenses). The Instant Licence is issued in a single step without the need for either the MOA (Memorandum of Association) or an existing location for the first year only.

The number of Trade Name Reservation was 3,431, an increase of 32% compared to September (2,790), while the number of Initial Approvals reached 2,449, a growth of 24.4% compared to September (1,969). The number of Commercial Permits reached 2,395, a growth of 48.4% compared to September (1,614).

The Business Map showed that License Renewal accounted for 12,989 transactions during October, an increase of 17.3% compared to September (11,072 transactions); 5,758 transactions were related to Auto Renewal via text messages, an increase of 11.9% compared to September (5,146 transactions).

The report showed that the top nationalities who secured licenses in October 2018 were: India, followed by Pakistan, Egypt, Britain, Bangladesh, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, China, Sudan and the Philippines.

The outsourced service centres of DED continued to witness hectic activity in October accounting for 18,213 transactions, a growth of 23.9% compared to September (14,694), demonstrating their vital role in delivering value-added services to the public in Dubai.

The report highlighted the distribution of the new licenses during October 2018 according to the main areas in Dubai, with Bur Dubai accounting for the largest share (972), followed by Deira (918), and Hatta (8). The top sub-regions that accounted for 54.2% of all the transactions were: Burj Khalifa (18.3%), Port Saeed (8.4%), Al Marar (5.2%), Garhoud (5.1%), Dubai World Trade Centre 1 (3.9%), Naif (3.2%), Al Barsha 1 (2.9%), Al Karama (2.6%), Al Wasl (2.4%), and Hor Al Anz (2.2%).

Trade & repair services accounted for 32% of the new licenses issued in October 2018 according to the distribution of economic activities, followed by Real estate, leasing & business services (26%), Building & Construction (16%), Community & personal services (10%), Hotels group (7.2%), Transport, storage & communications (3%), Manufacturing (2%), Financial brokerage (2%), Health & labour (0.7%), Education (0.5%), Agriculture (0.5%), and Mining & Natural Resources (0.1%).