Dubai saw exceptional growth in business registration applications. Against all odds, Dubai Customs completed 107,000 business registration requests from January to May, growing 95 per cent from 55,000 in the first five months in 2019.

There were 358,700 refund requests, 220,700 certificate/report requests, and 146,900 inspection date booking requests in the first five months this year.

Number of customs transactions completed by Dubai Customs skyrocketed 36 per cent in the first five months of 2020 to reach 5.9 million compared to 4.4 million transactions in the corresponding period in 2019.

In May, Dubai Customs completed 1.1 million transactions compared to 994,000 in May 2019, growing 10.6 per cent, a statement by Dubai Customs said on Monday. The growth reflects economic resilience and efficient response to pandemic and its impact on economic sector in general, thanks to Dubai Customs’ highly advanced infrastructure, stimulus packages and smart services.

Customs declarations rose 42 per cent in the first five months of this year to reach 5 million declarations compared to 3.5 million declarations in the corresponding period in the previous year. A million declarations were completed in January, almost the same for February, 1.3 million in March, 691,000 in April, and a million declarations in May.

The advanced Smart Workspace helped complete a declaration in four minutes as average.

Ahmed Mahboob Musabih, Director-General of Dubai Customs, said, “Our wise leadership supports business and trade sector in these challenging circumstances. A number of initiatives launched by the government have helped the business sector keep going, enhanced liquidity and reduced the impact of the current global economic situation. This is clearly manifested in the growing number of customs transactions handled by Dubai Customs in the first five months of this year.” Dubai Customs has heavily invested in advanced technologies to facilitate trade and support the global supply chain. Thanks to this, Dubai Customs completed 3.51 million (99.2 per cent) transactions through smart and online channels, with only 0.8 per cent done through the service counters.

Meanwhile, the Emirates Institute for Banking and Financial Studies has been initiating and conducting various live virtual instructor-led trainings and webinar sessions to support the community amidst the COVID-19 situation.

As part of this, the EIBFS recently conducted its first webinar session titled, “Don’t Waste a Good Crisis!” which discussed how the disruption due to COVID-19 is leading organisations to re-imagine the success parameters and encouraging them to explore new realities.

“To further enhance the reach of the trainings and provide support to the community with minimum interruption, the webinar series is aimed at addressing various current issues, discussing solutions and providing a shared platform for the people to come together and supporting each other through learnings and discussions,” EIBFS said in a statement.

The panelists in the webinar included Dr. Noel Tagoe, Professor of Accounting and Management practice at the University of Nottingham Business School, former executive vice president at CIMA - AICPA and an advisor to Forbes-listed organisations; Ms. Deepti Ahluwalia, FCIPD, Head of Learning & Development, FAB; Ms. Geetu Ahuja, Strategy Partner Management Accounting, CIMA-AICPA; and Ms. Radhika Jain, CFA, Head of Wealth Products at Emirates Islamic Bank.

The webinar shed light on how organisations and the banking industry can use this time to reinvent themselves. It also discussed how the crisis can be used as an opportunity to build connections, teach others, understand the business needs, make changes and believe that the disruption is the perfect time to reimagine everything that is being done.

The experts discussed the various hurdles including financial crisis, supply chain disruptions that are causing businesses to panic and talked about how this pandemic is setting an unprecedented path for the future.

The banking and financial industry has been thrust into adapting digitisation at a fast pace as a result of this situation and technology is playing a major role in helping banks and institutions maintain customer service and satisfaction.

The experts further discussed as to how the pandemic is unlike anything before. They said it has made the world stop and take notice of things one was too busy to look at earlier, it has made people rethink their actions, have clarity on how their decisions affect others and how organisations are not immune to such changes and shifts.

WAM