Dubai issues 4,101 business licences

Dubai: The Department of Economic Development (DED), Dubai's business licensing authority, on Monday said it had issued 4,101 licences for several types of businesses in Dubai in the second quarter of 2010, recording a 42 per cent increase compared to the second quarter of 2009.

The majority of these licences were issued in the commercial sector (3,094), followed by the professional sector (914) and industry (64).

‘Ready-made garments' led the list of the top 10 licensed activities in the commercial category with 536 licences issued, followed by ‘perfumes and cosmetics' with 433 and ‘general trade' with 431.

‘Restaurants' led the list of the top 10 licensed activities in the professional category with 135 licences issued in the second quarter, followed by ‘Residences and building cleaning services' with 131, ‘cafés' with 68, ‘selling snacks' with 62, and ‘men's barbers' with 60.

In industrial activities, ‘metal work industry for construction' led the list of the top 10 licensed activities with seven licences followed by ‘blacksmithing and welding workshops' with six, and ‘mirrors and glass work', ‘construction of metal parts ‘, and ‘construction of metal industry' with four licences each.

The Intlaq scheme, an initiative by the Department of Economic Development to encourage more Emiratis to set up businesses from home, recorded a strong performance with 649 licences issued in the second quarter of the year, a 50 per cent increase over the same period last year.

The largest growth was recorded in the trade category with 575 licences followed by the professional category with 74.

The total number of transactions during the second quarter of 2010 reached 101,982 compared to 90,638 during the same period in 2009, a 13 per cent increase.

The number of renewed licences stood at 22,842 while the total number of amended licences reached 12,897 compared to 10,689 during the same period last year, a 21 per cent increase.

The total number of commercial permits reached 11,647, a seven per cent increase compared to the same period last year while the total number of field inspection visits was 13,991, and the total number of ‘trade name reservations' reached 13,056.