The Department of Economic Development (DED) in Dubai issued 1,185 new licences and concluded more than 19,850 transactions in June.

The latest data, recorded on the "Business Map" digital platform of the Business Registration and Licencing (BRL) indicates that the emirate continues to attract businesses and investors as a competitive hub for sustainable business development.

The "Business Map" tracks business registration and licencing in the DED and seeks to reflect the economic realities in Dubai by providing vital data in each licence category, including their numbers and distribution, as well as investor trends, on a monthly basis.

Renewal transactions reached 11,043 during June 2018. Initial approvals amounted to 1,579 in June 2018, and 2,372 were related to Trade Name Reservation. Auto renewal of licences saw a steep increase, with 5,314 transactions, while 919 were related to commercial permits, 52 to instant licences and 74 to e-trader licences.

The outsourced service centres accounted for 12,568 transactions (48.2 per cent of the total), reaffirming their popularity among customers, mainly because of the enhanced convenience and reduced transaction times they provide. The average transaction time at the outsourced centres was 10 minutes, as of June 2018, and overall the centres continue to prove that outsourcing offers improved efficiencies.

Among the new licences issued, 61.9 per cent were commercial, 35.6 per cent were professional, 1.4 per cent were industrial and 1.1 per cent were related to tourism. Among the main regions, Bur Dubai was on top with a share of 558 new licences, Deira had 538 licenses, New Dubai had 87 and Hatta had two.

The share of the top ten sub-regions that accounted for 51.8 per cent of all regions in Dubai were as follows: Burj Khalifa (11.4 per cent of the new licences), New Dubai (7.2 per cent), Al Marar (5.6 per cent), Port Saeed (4.7 per cent), Naif (4.6 per cent), Dubai World Trade Centre 1 (3.7 per cent), Hor Al Anz (3.5 per cent), Al Riqqa (3.2 per cent), Al Garhoud (2.5 per cent) and Al Muraqabat (2.4 per cent).

The new licences also confirm continued investment in all vital economic sectors in Dubai. Trade and repair services (37.8 per cent) was the most licensed activity in June 2018, followed by real estate, leasing and business services (25.1 per cent), construction (14.6 per cent), community and personal services (12.7 per cent), hotels group (7.5 per cent) and transport, storage and communications (3.7 per cent), manufacturing (3.6 per cent), financial brokerage (2.9 per cent), education (0.9 per cent), agriculture (0.5 per cent), and mining (0.3 per cent). – TradeArabia News Service