Dubai: With online shopping and e-Commerce scoring high for convenience and safety, the ‘DED Trader’ licence of Dubai Economy is attracting increased interest from start-ups in Dubai.
Pioneered by the Business Registration & Licensing (BRL) sector in Dubai Economy in 2017 to enable business activities online and across social networking accounts, ‘DED Trader’ licences were issued to 943 new businesses during the first three months of 2020, an increase of 179 per cent over the same period last year. With online shopping gaining fresh momentum in the UAE, 102 DED Trader licences were issued in April 2020, and the total number of DED Traders now stands at 5,353.
‘DED Trader’ has proactively supported the growth of e-Commerce in the UAE and encouraged a growing number of consumers to shop online. It is also enabling businesses to address challenges during the prevailing nationwide alert against COVID-19 with an easily accessible window regulated by Dubai Economy to set up and drive online enterprises. Additionally, it enables business continuity and sustainability during COVID-19.
‘DED Trader’ has also created new opportunities with several innovative activities and emerging sectors now facilitated by the licence, providing an authentic channel for ambitious startups and young people to test new products and services.
Altogether, the ‘DED Trader’ licence is issued to 87 activity groups. The number of permitted activities in a single licence is 10, provided they are consistent within the same activity category. ‘Lifestyle Coaching’ tops the list of activities licensed since the launch of ‘DED Trader,’ followed by ‘Marketing Services Via Social Media,’ ‘Project Management Services,’ ‘Marketing Management,’ and ‘Portals.’
‘DED Trader’ has also gained tremendous interest among women entrepreneurs with 60 per cent of the licences issued till date are to women entrepreneurs.
Issued electronically in line with its emphasis on ease of business and convenience, ‘DED Trader’ has continued to witness rising demand every quarter since its launch with 41 licences issued during the first month. While the number of licences issued increased from 270 to 303 between the first and last quarters of 2018, the increase during the same period in 2019 was from 525 to 839. The last quarter of 2019 saw a 276% increase in licences issued compared to the same period in the previous year.
