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Dubai adds 98 new economic activities to vital sectors in 2021

Move follows evaluation and survey of market needs and investor concerns

Dubai has added 98 new economic activities to vital sector last year, bringing the total number of economic activities to more than 2,200. This is an increase of 88% compared to 2020, when 52 new economic activities were added.

In a statement on Thursday, the Business Registration & Licensing (BRL) sector at the Department of Economy and Tourism (DET), the new activities cover specialised business sectors in Dubai and in-clude green hydrogen production, artificial intelligence developing services, gaming localisation services, industrial consultancies, 3D printing building construction contracting, space consultan-cies, plant based diary manufacturing, early childhood centre and gaming production service pro-viders.

Virtual realityand augmented reality provision and development services, video games consoles manufacturing, storage environments temperature verification services, news services via websites, coworking spaces operation, and underwater photography services were also introduced last year.

Waleed Abdul Malik, director of Business Registration in the BRL sector, said Dubai has expanded the horizons for business sectors to meet the needs of urban development, upgraded infrastruc-ture, and enhanced legislative environment to establish the city as one of the leading investment, commercial and tourism centres in the world.

“Led by the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, in driving economic growth, Dubai has succeeded in keeping pace with economic changes at local, regional and global levels and transforming challeng-es into opportunities.”, he said.

Abdul Malik said the vitality of Dubai’s economy is based on the solid foundations led by effective economic policies and strategies to drive economic diversification, especially in sectors such as transformative industries, tourism, air and maritime transport, commercial and real estate activi-ties, services, and alternative energy.

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In addition, he said the openness of Dubai’s economy and partnership with many countries in the region and the world led to attracting global markets, enhanced the flow of investments, and stim-ulated the movement of tourism and foreign trade.

Changing business models

“As the business environment gained acceleration during pandemic, the addition of new activities will benefit UAE in assisting economic reform, improve governance, improve conditions for investment and economic development,” Saad Maniar, senior partner at Crowe, said.

“This shall also promote UAE as more forward looking nation and will certainly gain trust amongst the business community, which shall enable to attract new investors,” Maniar told Khaleej Times on Thursday.

Atik Munshi, managing partner, FinExpertiza UAE, said the business models around the world are rapidly changing, there are more and more specialised business which demand recognition.

“Dubai and it’s DET are very proactive in recognising such emerging trends and make timely additions to business activities as required. This is the pro business culture which has attracted business persons from around the globe into Dubai,” Munshi told Khaleej Times on Thursday.

Digital economy holds the key

Saeed Sharaf, founder and CEO of eSports Middle East, said one of the factors that placed Dubai at the forefront of technological advancement is its constant adoption of the latest and greatest in the digital world, and video games are a prime example.

“By adding new economic activities in the gaming sector, Dubai enjoys a fortified position as a lead-ing country in the region when it comes to digital entertainment and eSports, which market is es-timated at more than US$170 billion, according to the latest statistics from the world of video games,” he said.

The BRL sector highlighted the importance of communicating with entrepreneurs and investors to develop economic and governmental performance to establish Dubai as a model at all levels. The team focuses on facilitating the procedures for obtaining a license for companies, and developing services led by its positive impact in promoting the growth of the private sector, a key contributor to the economy.

— muzaffarrizvi@khaleejtimes.com