Inayat-ur-Rahman, Business Editor

Dubai has announced another major initiative to boost entrepreneurship in the emirate in the direction of ease of doing business, slashing  the amount of government procedures to start a business almost by a third.

The business community in the UAE has warmly welcomed this great move, adding that it would further strengthen the business ambiance in the City of Wonders and would draw more local and global investors.

Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council, issued this directive at an Executive Council meeting attended by Sheikh Maktoum Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and First Deputy Chairman of the Executive Council, along with senior officials.

“We have made significant progress in strengthening Dubai’s economic recovery,” Sheikh Hamdan said. “Normal life has resumed and the increased stability of businesses will help raise the sustainability of Dubai’s economy. We are determined to further support businesses and deepen the confidence of investors as part of ensuring a win-win partnership.”

Paras Shahdadpuri, Chairman, Nikai Group of Companies, told Gulf Today that His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai  and Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai always walk the talk. They truly believe in their statement that the road to excellence has no finishing line and this is being practised by a slew of announcements to bolster the economic growth of Dubai and indeed of the UAE.

“The latest initiative is the string of announcements to make the already efficient system more efficient in the direction of Ease-of-doing-business in Dubai.”

“The entire world is reeling under the disastrous consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and Dubai sees a huge opportunity during this crisis to make Dubai the most attractive destination for doing business.”

“It has further liberalised visa rules, started giving Golden Visas, providing long-term visas to those who are not even working in UAE but dong (WFH) Work from Home based in other countries, pushed liquidity into the market to support the businesses and latest in the series is to further cut down the Government process by one-third.”

“One cannot ask for more. I have personal information that many High Net worth Individuals (HNIs) from Europe and the Sub-continent are seriously considering setting up shop here after seeing how the UAE has handled successfully the COVID crisis.

“All these measures have already had a major effect in making the UAE the Most Preferred Destination in the world. The real estate market is already hotting up and entrepreneurs are encouraged and the economic sentiment is running big. I have no doubt that the future of Dubai Economy is extremely bright and in a short time Dubai will be one of the top 3 destinations in the world for Ease-of-doing-business.” Shahdadpuri concluded.

Shravan Charya, Founder CEO of SocioPay, a Dubai-based charity linked tech company, told this reporter that this is an excellent development. It reflects the vision and wisdom of our leaders in the UAE.

“The decision will not only help existing businesses who are recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, but also the start-ups who would benefit immensely from reduced government procedures. The decision will go a long way in strengthening the competitiveness and reinforcing Dubai’s position as a global economic hub. It will help more and more businesses to launch operations from Dubai and these initiatives will then help the economy grow faster.” Charya concluded.

Jos Paul CJ, Senior Operations Manager of Khind Middle East and Africa, said: “This timely initiative will increase the attractiveness of the UAE economy and strengthen Dubai’s position as a global economic hub. It will not only  reduce licensing processes and cost of doing business, it also will help existing business in cost savings and help them grow as well as encourage foreign investors to enter the UAE.

“The initiative couldn’t have come at a more appropriate time, when businesses are recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic and looking at growing ahead of the World Expo 2020.”

Dubai’s wide-ranging support measures since the onset of the pandemic, especially its five stimulus packages worth Dh7.1 billion, helped the private sector reduce operating costs and ensure that the impact of the pandemic did not translate into long-term challenges. Roberto d’Ambrosio, CEO, Axiory Global, said: “Businesses, and therefore the investments needed to set those businesses up, need mostly two things to develop and thrive: certainty and a clear timeline for the setup and the followup requirements, designed to allow an orderly scale up within a predictable environment. Once again, the Dubai leadership has demonstrated sharp strategic approach and clear vision.

“The first aspect, certainty, was considerably improved as the decision to allow 100% foreign ownership of the mainland limited companies was announced. This is definitely a game changer in my opinion, allowing great confidence to FDIs to focus on Dubai even more.

“The second aspect will be further addressed by the announced 30% reduction in the procedures which are now necessary to set up and run a private business in Dubai.“We will see how such reduction will be implemented, but chances are that they will address the need of business for clarity in requirement and procedure and reduction in bureaucracy.”