Dubai Economy issued 1,638 new licenses and gave initial approval to 2,087 in 23,626 registration and licensing transactions in January 2018 as recorded in the 'Business Map.'

Category-wise, commercial licenses led the list of new licenses at 58 per cent while Professional licenses stood second at 39.9 per cent. Industrial licenses accounted for 1.1 per cent and Tourism licenses, 1 per cent. Indians, Pakistanis, Egyptians, Jordanians, Britons, Saudis and Chinese were among the top investors in January 2018.

The 'Business Map' tracks activities of the Business Registration & Licensing (BRL) sector in Dubai Economy to reflect the economic realities in Dubai, providing vital data on each category of licenses including their numbers and category-wise distribution as well as investor trends on a monthly basis.

The distribution of BRL activities in January 2018 also underline the growing appeal of the innovative and smart solutions introduced by Dubai Economy to enhance of ease of doing business as well as the attractiveness of Dubai as a competitive hub for sustainable business growth.

The auto renewal service was used for 1,600 BRL transactions in January while 131 transactions relating to the Instant License and 41 e-Trader transactions were also recorded during the same period. Trade Name Reservations accounted for 3,072 transactions and 11,195 were related to Amendments. Commercial Permits had a share of 1,494 in the total transactions.

The Outsourced Service Centres continued to attract a significant number of Dubai Economy customers as 19,239 transactions were completed through such centres.

Bur Dubai topped the list for new licenses issued with a share of 788, followed by Deira (682), New Dubai (157) and Hatta (11). Among the top ten sub-regions that together accounted for 51.7 per cent of all new licenses Burj Khalifa was in the lead at 13.7 per cent, followed by New Dubai (9.3 per cent), Al Marar (6.8 per cent), Naif (4.8 per cent), Port Saeed (3.7 per cent), Trade Centre 1 (3.5 per cent), Hor Al Anz (2.5 per cent), Al Garhoud (2.4 per cent), Al Barsha 1 (2.1 per cent), Al Wasl (1.9 per cent).

Trade and repair services retained its position as the number one activity licensed (35.1 per cent) and real estate, leasing and business services followed with 26.2 per cent.

Community and personal services (15 per cent), Construction (14.7 per cent), Hotel Groups (7 per cent), Transportation, storage and communications (4.2 per cent), Manufacturing (2.8 per cent), Financial Brokerage (2.5 per cent), Contracting (1.2 per cent), Agriculture (0.8 per cent), Health and Labour (0.7 per cent), and Education (0.7 per cent) were the other main activities licensed. – TradeArabia News Service