July 2022 / United Arab Emirates

Dubai issued 45,653 new business licences in the first half (H1) of 2022, a growth of 25% compared to H1 2021 when 36,647 licenses were issued. The numbers reaffirm the success of the government's innovative new strategic approaches and policy amendments that have revitalised the economy and stimulated a strong flow of local and foreign investment, enabling the emirate to accelerate the pace of its sustainable economic growth and diversification.

His Excellency Helal Saeed Al Marri, Director General of Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism, said: “The latest figures released by the Business Registration and Licensing (BRL) sector at the Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) in Dubai underline the success of measures taken to ensure business continuity and provide the option of full ownership to foreign investors, both significant steps that support the vision and directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) into vital sectors. These measures have also enhanced Dubai’s growth-friendly and transparent investment environment, marked by exceptional ease of doing business and high levels of security and safety. The new data also reflects Dubai’s dynamic entrepreneurial landscape, its globally competitive offerings for businesses and the confidence that local, regional and global investors have in its growth prospects.”

According to the BRL sector data, 55% of the new business licences issued during H1 of 2022 were professional and 45% were commercial. Bur Dubai accounted for the largest share with 31,604 of new licences issued, followed by Deira with 14,022 licences, and Hatta (27), while the top sub-regions were: Al Fahidi, Burj Khalifa, Al Marrar, Port Saeed, Dubai Investment Park 1, Naif, Al Quoz 3, Trade Centre 1, Al Barsha 1, and Jebel Ali Industrial 1.

Among the legal forms of the new licences issued during H1 of 2022, Sole Establishment companies topped the list with 30%, followed by Civil Companies with 25%, and Limited Liability companies with 22%. The legal forms also included: One-Person Limited Liability Companies, Branches of companies based in other emirates; Branches of Foreign Companies; Branches of Free Zone Companies; Branches of GCC Companies, General Partnership Companies; Public Shareholding Companies; and Private Joint-Stock Companies.

A total of 261,958 business registration and licensing transactions were completed in H1 2022, a growth of 33% compared to H1 2021, when total transactions reached 197,052. Additionally, the number of renewal transactions during the first half of 2022 reached 92,948, a growth of 22% compared to the first half of 2021, in which 75,950 transactions were recorded.

The number of Initial Approvals reached 39,303, a growth of 54% compared to H1 of 2021 (25,491), while Trade Name Reservations reached 41,731, a growth of 32% compared to H1 of 2021 (31,693). Commercial Permits reached 5,805 permits in H1 2022.

The BRL sector reported that 14,654 Instant Licences were issued during the first half of 2022. Through the Instant Licence, which is issued within five minutes on invest.dubai.ae platform, with the option to issue an electronic MOA and a virtual site for the first year only, the Department of Economy and Tourism aims to drive the sustainable economic development and competitiveness of Dubai.

The Dubai Customs Authority (DCA) has published decision No. 04/2022 to postpone the implementation of the procedures for cross-border e-commerce following the request of businesses to allow them a period of time to develop and upgrade their electronic systems.

The specific procedures for cross-border e-commerce were introduced by Notice No. 15/2021, with the aim of simplifying customs procedures and regulating the movement of goods through cross-border e-commerce channels. The entry into force of Notice No. 15/2021 was 1 January 2022.

The DCA have decided to implement these procedures for cross-border e-commerce from 1 January 2023.

Decision No. 04/2022 was published on the DCA's official website on 22 June 2022.

The value of member exports and re-exports in the first half of 2022 amounted to AED 129.4 billion, marking a 17.8% increase compared to the same period last year. The number of certificates of origin issued in H1-2022 rose 8.9% y-o-y to exceed 357,000.

The growth momentum reflects the Chamber’s ongoing efforts to expand and improve its services that are designed to facilitate Dubai’s trade with other markets and enhance the competitiveness of the private sector, as well as new initiatives launched under the new Dubai Chambers strategy.

Commenting on the latest performance figures, HE Hamad Buamim, President & CEO of Dubai Chambers, described said Dubai International Chamber’s representative offices played a crucial role in supporting the growth of member exports as these offices identify high-potential trade opportunities in promising markets, in addition to Dubai Chamber of Commerce’s smart services and expanded efforts to promote Dubai as a preferred business hub in the global arena.

He reiterated Dubai Chambers’ strong commitment to achieving the goals of the Dubai Foreign Trade Plan announced by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, which aims to boost Dubai’s foreign trade to AED 2 trillion by 2026, adding that newly launched initiatives such as Dubai Global are expected to fast track progress towards achieving this target.

He added that 2022 is forecast to be a record and exceptional year for member companies trade performance as the three chambers operating under Dubai Chambers – Dubai Chamber of Commerce, Dubai International Chamber and Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy align their efforts and implement a focused approach to supporting Dubai’s business community and cementing its position as a global trade hub.

Media Office

ABU DHABI, 17th July, 2022 (WAM) -- Under the auspices of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai UAE, the UAE Space Agency today announced a new AED3 billion national investment and development fund for the space sector, The National Space Fund.

The Fund will support ground breaking new programmes launched to support international and Emirati companies co-operating in leading edge space sector engineering, sciences and research applications. The Fund’s first project to be launched to space will be a constellation of advanced remote sensing satellites using radar technologies to provide unparalleled imaging capabilities.

Sarah bint Yousef Al Amiri, Minister of State for Public Education and Advanced Technology and Chairwoman of the UAE Space Agency, said: "A long-term plan and programme for the development of the Emirates’ space sector is in place to create economic opportunities, new jobs and help to fund global partnerships and new leaders in technology, space sciences and engineering here in the UAE. We are planning for a bright future filled with new challenges and openings for our young people – and this fund is precisely targeted at building opportunities for international co-operation in building Emirati enterprises."

The Fund will actively encourage partnerships between international and local enterprises, providing them with incentives as a part of the UAE Space Agency’s Space Economic Zones Programme.

Salem Al Qubaisi, Director General of the UAE Space Agency, said, "The National Space Fund will encourage global partnerships to establish themselves here in the Emirates, providing new and vital technology platforms and development to answer the needs of the UAE Space Programme and other global customers for vital innovation and technologies that answer the needs and possibilities of today’s world."

The Fund’s first investment will be in the development and launch of a constellation of advanced imaging satellites for the Emirates, using the SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) technology. The constellation is to be named Sirb after the Arabic term for a flock of birds, and will address the critical need for better environmental and land usage monitoring, data collection and analysis to meet today’s global challenges.

The planned satellites will be able to create highly detailed and complex radar ‘images’ of land use, ice cover, surface changes and characterisation, with a wide range of scientific, civil and commercial applications.

Sarah Al Amiri commented, "SAR technology leapfrogs traditional imaging satellites, providing more powerful imaging using X-band radar technologies, allowing us to continue observations day and night, through fog and cloud cover as well as combining observations to create big data pictures simply not possible through conventional imaging. These small-scale satellites are more agile, faster to develop and more powerful – an indicator of the types of new generation systems that technology is now making possible."

SAR technology combines the power of imaging satellites with cloud and ground penetrating capabilities that will open up applications from urban planning to archaeology and from weather prediction to atmospheric quality analysis and climate change mapping. Critically, the SAR radar-based technology can provide high-resolution images for remote sensing applications regardless of sunlight illumination and weather conditions.

The six-year satellite development programme will see the first satellite launch in three years, a much faster time to launch than was possible using traditional earth observation satellite design principles. The Sirb satellites will be built through a number of partnerships between the Emirati public and private sector together with international players, with submissions being opened for a range of system integration, development and subsystem construction opportunities as part of the constellation development, launch, operation and commercialisation plan.

As well as addressing critical human needs for more wide-ranging data, the Sirb constellation provides a private sector opportunity that bridges the gap between the Emirates Mars Mission and the upcoming Beyond Mars Mission to Venus and the Main Asteroid Belt, due to launch in 2028.

WAM

According to an update of 25 July 2022, published by the Ministry of Finance of the United Arab Emirates, the deadline to submit the Reporting Financial Institutions (RFI) in accordance with the requirements of the Automatic Exchange of Information CRS (AEOI-CRS) based on the OECD Automatic Exchange of Information Agreement (2014), and the United Arab Emirates - United States FATCA Model 1B Agreement (2015) has been further extended to 15 August 2022. Previously, the deadline had been extended to 20 July 2022.