Dubai : Commercial and trading activity maintained its momentum in 2009, highlighting investors' trust in the opportunities available in the emirate and the UAE, the Dubai Department of Economic Development (DED) said in a statement yesterday.
According to a report, DED issued 11,635 licences in 2009. Most of the licences (76 per cent) were issued in the commercial sector with the rest going to the professional sector (22 per cent) and industrial and tourism (1 per cent each).
The DED noted an increase in the number of projects, establishments, and urban developments resulting in an increase in service opportunities and activities.
The DED issued 157 lic-ences to foreign companies last year.
Companies from the UK received 21 per cent of the licences, followed by the US (4 per cent) and Singapore (3.2 per cent).
The report stated that 9,184 licences were issued in the top 10 licensed activities in 2009, an increase of 26 per cent.
Ready-made garments topped the list with 1,569 licences, an increase of 4 per cent, followed by perfumes and cosmetics (1,336).
The Intlaq scheme, an initiative by the DED to encourage more UAE nationals to set up businesses from home, saw 1,691 licences being given in various categories.
High growth
The scheme's highest growth was recorded in the trade category with 1,480 licences followed by 211 licences in the professional category.
A total of 86,707 lic-ences were renewed in 2009, an increase of 2 per cent. Commercial licences topped renewals with a 76 per cent increase, followed by professional, industrial, and tourism with 20 per cent, two per cent and 1 per cent respectively.
A total of 39,469 modified licences were issued last year with commercial licences topping the list with a whopping 80 per cent, followed by professional, industrial and tourism with 16 per cent, two per cent and two per cent respectively.
A total of 3,167 licences were cancelled in 2009.
Commercial permits recorded a 31 per cent increase to 17,937 permits last year compared with 2008. Of these, 7,887 permanent permits were issued.
Advertising signs of trade names topped the list of issued permits at 5,788 accounting for 73 per cent of the total permits. Additional ads accounted for 10 per cent at 841.
The number of customers in DED's portfolio reached 102,732 in 2009, with an average of 8,561 customers per month.
DED officers in the Commercial Compliance and Consumer Protection Division carried out 74,181 inspections in 2009. Fines were issued in 13,255 cases.
Advertising without a permit topped the list of violations.
The second highest violation was establishing an activity without approval.
