Express service for Abu Dhabi entrepreneurs with trade licence issued in 10 minutes

Entrepreurs looking to open new businesses in Abu Dhabi can now get their trade licence in just 10 minutes.

The Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development said that this would improve the competitiveness of the emirate, attract more investment and reduce administrative procedures.

The instant licensing system follows a range of electronic services the DED has introduced that can be offered via smart devices.

This would also help to keep pace with development in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Al Gharbia, said Ali Majid Al Mansouri, the head of the DED.

The DED’s Abu Dhabi Business Center has so far electronically linked 23 government agencies concerned with the approval of the business activities. The total number of government agencies that could be involved in such a process can reach up to 53. About 60 per cent of the business activities that the DED handles require external approvals from government authorities.

Even though an applicant can receive a licence in 10 minutes, they will need to wait until they fulfil all business requirements such as permits of construction, electricity, water, communications and manpower that require notarisation of the commercial licence. After the commercial licence is issued, the Abu Dhabi Business Center will inspect the facility, which needs to conform with the requirements and regulations that a particular business activity requires. The lengthy procedures to open a business are among the challenges that small businesses face in particular.

It took Badour Al Qubaisi, the owner of White Coffee cafe in Abu Dhabi’s Khalifa City A, about six months to acquire a trade licence. While the UAE ranks 22nd among 189 economies in World Bank’s ease of doing business index this year, it ranks much lower at 58th in ease of starting a business.