UAE ponders change in foreign ownership rules - report

Posted by: Tedie Hudson Tuesday, 10 November 2009 8:35 AM[UAE] - Saudi ARabia

With the severe downturn in foreign investment Real Estate, Dubai must do something dramatic to encourage foreigners to move back again. Risk is bad enough in today's economy and adding the Emirati partner factor does not "encourage" business to come. The real estate is down enough back home and what incentive would bring them to dubai? With real estate it main income producer, unlike it neighbors with oil to recovery with, Dubai needs to rethink it direction and come up with a true identity. Is it another Hong Kong or is it a Mirage...oasis with no water?

Posted by: mukesh Thursday, 24 September 2009 10:45 AM[UAE] - u.a.e

whatever is decided must be thought through and implemented by tightening all loose ends from all angles. that is most important. there will be many view points on any topic but whatever view point the establishment has should be clear. atleast that is a pre requisite. in the past few years due to the high speed at which the city has tried to move the requiaite legislation has not been able to keep pace resulting in a lot of grey areas and disillusionment be it in the property sector or sponsorship. this can be avoided by having clarity across the board. thank you

Posted by: i want my dubai back! Tuesday, 15 September 2009 3:05 PM[UAE]

Omar - I suggest google up the word 'Dubai' and then choose the enteries under the 'News' from the options bar seen at the top left corner. There are around six or seven news articles on Dubai that appears today. Suggested reading - the New York Times article dated 14th Sept and Telegraphs's article of the same date.

Posted by: Behrooz Tuesday, 15 September 2009 2:42 PM[UAE] - UAE

1- Dear Paul; Of course free zones already exist with %100 ownership for non-locals, but the business regulation for free zone companies are basically different to those operating in the city. This covers and includes their branches, offices and their allowed trading foot print. Legally speaking they are very restricted to operate with other emirate as well. Companies in the city (Economic Development Department) are much less restricted and can operate national wide. For instance a free zone company can not sell goods directly to the city market, legally. 2- The law would not be clear and this sort of legislation always is a recipe for headache. Hi-Tech and hi-value? where are the boundaries? who define if one business is exactly falling into these categories or not? Is it enough to mention hi-tech in the list of your activities? etc. 4- What happens to older companies who established their brands and reputation over years and have %49 of their company? Will they automatically be %100 owner? if yes then what about the %51 ownership of the local sponsor? If no, how to justify the injustice? If they need to dissolve the old company and establish the new one, what is happening to the history of the company? who decides about the ownership or division of the assets and profits at the time of dissolve, between the local sponsor and the real owner if thing not going into the right path? 5- For many locals, being companies sponsor is a main source of income for many years. Many from Al Ain, RAK, and other less developed places are sponsoring others for money, and they would not be happy of this regulation. I think this law must be published and reviewed by business owners and if the government is serious about recovery, they should listen to real people advises and suggestions, before going on-air with new things, as they did and failed several times.

Posted by: paul Tuesday, 15 September 2009 11:00 AM[UAE] - UAE

I wonder if the UAE government is aware of its 'free zones'? These are locations where companies can start businesses that are 100% foreign owned. It is not credible to suggest that there are a huge number of international companies holding off coming because of the ownership rules - those that want to be here, and want to own 100%, can already do so. If the government wants an influx of businesses, it could start by making free zones more attractive. And that means reversing the huge rent increases made during the peak of the boom. Ultimately the primary factor in keeping business away is the bottom line - costs too high, economy weak.