The number of business licences issued in Dubai in February was 34 percent higher than the same month in 2009, the Dubai Department of Economic Development (DED) said on Saturday.
DED issued 1,151 licences in February 2010, with the majority issued in the commercial sector (887) followed by the professional sector (249), tourism (11) and industry (4).
“DED focuses on strengthening the economic development in Dubai and one of its key functions is to encourage local and foreign investments in commercial projects, and create the appropriate environment for investors,” said Sami Ahmed Al Qamzi, director general, DED.
The Intlaq scheme, an initiative by the Department of Economic Development to encourage more UAE nationals to set up businesses from home, recorded strong performance with 196 licences issued in February, a 104 percent increase from February 2009.
The largest growth was recorded in the trade category, with 121 percent of the total licences issued.
The total number of transactions during February 2010 reached 26,716 compared to 26,054 in February 2009, a 3 percent increase, DED added.
Last week, Dubai Statistics Center said almost four times as many new commercial licences were issued in Dubai in 2009 as were cancelled.
The Dubai government said that the emirate issued 8,911 new commercial licences in 2009, a year in which 2,372 were cancelled.
The centre added that a total of 67,070 commercial licences were renewed during 2009. (Reuters)
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