The Abu Dhabi Business Centre (ADBC) has complete e-linkages with each of the General Authority of Civil Aviation (Gaca) and the Abu Dhabi Ports, bringing to 36 the number of local and federal departments covered by the e-linkage project.

Now the project accounts for 97 per cent of total business licensing transactions in the country, according to the ADBC, an affiliate of the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development, reported Wam, the Emirates official news agency.

The Gaca is entrusted with approving 30 business activities, most notably the repair and maintenance of plane engines, wholesale trade of air vehicles, sailing aircraft, airplane waste, air transportation, airplane management and organisation, airfreight, aerial photography, plane hire, air training, management and operation of hot air balloons and sales of unmanned air vehicles. A total of 104 trade licenses with relevance to the afore-mentioned activities were approved by the Gaca during 2016.

Abu Dhabi Ports' sanctioning mandate covers four trade activities, including loading and offloading of commodities, ship guidance, marine towing services, and port management.

Mohamed Munif Al Mansouri, ADBC executive director, said the e-linkage project is one of the avant-garde projects that streamlines the development of e-trade licensing transactions, thereby reducing the procedures, time and documents required to perform trade licensing transactions.

He added that, with the activation of the e-linkage system with all local and federal government bodies across the emirate of Abu Dhabi, ADBC customers will be able to collect their new trade licenses within 2 to 4 business days. He further stated that original licenses are no more required to document the procedure through e-services that allow these bodies to inquire about license details and print them electronically in any place in the country, in addition to offering data and information required by the customer, such as the instruments and documents needs and payable fees.

The Abu Dhabi Business Centre is one of the main initiatives adopted by the Government of Abu Dhabi in order to create a perfect business environment in line with international standards.