Shaikh Hamdan call to sharpen Dubai business edge

The Crown Prince urged the Dubai Department of Economic Development, or DED, to work towards further enhancing existing processes to improve Dubai’s global ranking in terms of competitiveness and ease of doing business. “Dubai’s business environment must be constantly re-energised,” he urged.

He stressed that the DED should act as a key driver of economic growth that is fully aligned with the Dubai 2015 Strategic Plan outlined by His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

Shaikh Hamdan during a visit to the dubai department of economic development.

The 2015 Strategic Plan emphasises the importance of making the city a premier destination for investment. Shaikh Hamdan told officials that the role of DED, which was established 20 years ago, is not to just serve as a licensing body but as a key driver of economic growth.

“It is critical today that we ensure that the key sectors of our economy — including trade, logistics, finance, knowledge sector, tourism and retail, as well as manufacturing and industry — are made even stronger and more competitive in this globalised age,” said Shaikh Hamdan.

The Crown Prince was accompanied on a tour of the DED by Mohammed Abdullah Al Gergawi, UAE Minister of Cabinet Affairs; Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair; Mohammed Juma Al Naboodah; Saif bin Markhan, Director-General of the Office of the Crown Prince of Dubai; and Omar Abdullah Al Futtaim.

He said DED’s role must be to enhance partnerships with the private sector and develop mechanisms to communicate effectively. The Crown Prince directed that the DED establish an Advisory Council to review the policies and processes related to various business sectors and propose initiatives that support business growth.

He also directed the DED to help existing businesses strengthen their operations and benefit from a competitive economy, and also to attract new enterprises from across the world. He said that attracting investment, promoting exports, ensuring global standards across all aspects of operations, and driving the growth of Dubai’s core economic sectors must be the cornerstones of the DED’s operations.

“We know that the world is changing, and as a dynamic hub for international emerging markets we need to keep pace with that change – and even lead it,” said the Crown Prince. “We have to continue to invest in education and innovation, and to encourage public-private partnerships.”

He stressed that the various agencies of the DED — including Dubai SME; Dubai FDI, the foreign direct investment office in the DED; Dubai Export Development Corporation and Dubai Events and Promotions Establishment — must work in close coordination to further boost the competitiveness of the city. He sought innovative ideas and programmes from DED officials to further strengthen the business sector and ensure higher levels of growth as envisaged by Dubai’s leadership. He said that to further drive the growth of the small and medium enterprises (SMEs), the DED must focus on creating and developing quality enterprises in this vital sector. The SME sector accounts for a majority of businesses in Dubai, supports a large workforce and contributes significantly to the annual gross domestic product.

“The Government will continue to provide all the necessary support to the SME sector. The DED must, in turn, identify the best performing enterprises in the sector and help them to achieve global standards,” he said.

Shaikh Hamdan endorsed the establishment of the Centre for Amicable Settlement of Disputes in the Business Village to identify quick solutions for litigation related to SMEs and decrease related costs.

He also underlined the importance of encouraging exports, particularly that of products by National companies, and urged the DED to extend all support in exploring new markets for products and services by Dubai-based SMEs.

Stressing the need to create an environment for sustainable growth, Shaikh Hamdan said that existing processes and systems must be revisited regularly to ensure that they are in line with global best practices, enhancing the competitiveness of Dubai’s economy.

He added that Dubai’s business environment must be constantly re-energised, using tools such as the mystery shopper programme. Highlighting the importance of such initiatives, Shaikh Hamdan said: “By introducing performance-measurement tools and service-level agreements for various Government services, we will incentivise public-sector staff to achieve the very best results.”

To further establish Dubai as the regional hub for events, the Dubai Crown Prince called for creating new programmes and initiatives, adding that it is important to promote Dubai as the regional centre for events and festivals.

He underlined the need to create self-financing mechanisms to drive events, and approved the initiatives proposed by the Dubai Events and Promotions Establishment such as unifying the issuance of permits to organise events in Dubai electronically as well as launching a unified programme to sell events tickets (Ticket Master) and develop tourism marketing tariff. Shaikh Hamdan stressed the importance of high level of coordination among the concerned departments to ensure efficiency and effectiveness of these initiatives.

He said that efforts should be made to strengthen investment flow from the UAE’s key trade partners. It is imperative to create new programmes and incentives to help attract investment by providing special facilities for investors, he said, and underscored the need to protect investors and owners of trademarks and focus on consumer protection practices.

He also approved the launch of a special programme to attract investors called Fast Track Dubai through Dubai FDI and establishing a single window mechanism to provide services to investors across a number of public departments.

Shaikh Hamdan met Sami Al Qamzi, Director General of DED, and other top officials, and enquired about the progress of the various activities by the Department. He also evaluated the new initiatives of DED and called for their prompt implementation.

Al Qamzi expressed his gratitude to Shaikh Hamdan for his valuable instructions to further develop Dubai’s economy. He said that all the instructions would be implemented immediately. The DED will formalise special teams to put in place the necessary programmes that will drive the overall development of Dubai, he said.

issacjohn@khaleejtimes.com