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TwitterInvestors can skip the queues and avoid processesing fees at Dubai government departments by registering online to get approval to start a business or renew their licences.
The DED launched two new e-service initiatives Wednesday allowing business owners and investors, who have a UAE visit or residence visa, to get tentative government approval to start a business in Dubai or renew an existing licence online — from anywhere in the world.
Applicants seeking initial approval to start a business can upload the necessary documents and pay business fees by credit card or through select banks on the DED website.
The initiatives come as part of a DED plan to move away from physical transactions at their offices to offering all services online, said Mohammad Shael, chief executive of the Business Registration and Licensing Sector at DED.
"We are now in transition. We will stop the manual processes when online services are perfected 100 per cent and people are used to it. The target [for this move] depends on the number of licences processed online."
The e-services will result in some cost savings for the government in the long run, he said. Assuming nine per cent growth in the next five years, this would require doubling the registration capacity and opening different branches.
"In ten years we would need an army of registers. That's what we don't want to do," he said, adding that human capital should be moved from registering people to interacting with investors and selling Dubai as an investment destination.
Using e-services, applicants can avoid the Dh560 per transaction charged at the DED offices.
There are no processesing fees for the online services and no surcharges for paying by credit card, Shael added.
The DED has also partnered with three business centres and Al Tamimi and Company law firm to provide business registration and licensing services during non-working hours. The DED closes at 2.30pm and the business centres would operate until 9pm, he said. About 95 per cent of DED services are available onlineAsked if the practice of auditing the documents submitted online after granting initial approvals would increase the risk of fraudulent companies setting up, he said: "Since the DED started in 1992, statistics say 85 to 87 per cent of businessmen who set up in Dubai are genuine. Only a small percentage are fraudlent, we can't punish the majority for the minority... the risk won't stop us from enhancing our electronic services," he told Gulf News.
The number of new companies that set up in Dubai reached 5,684 from January to May this year, according to Mohammad Shael, chief executive of the Business Registration and Licensing Sector.
There has been a reduction in real estate-related activity but a parallel increase in retail, food and beverages, luxury goods, electronics and services sectors, he said.
The number of new licences is expected to rise five to eight per cent this year on the back of falling rentsi, he added. But 2010 alone saw a growth of 18 per cent in new companies coming here.
There are currently 190,000 companies in Dubai registered with DED, excluding those in the free zones, he said.
All business tenancy contracts must be attested by RERA starting July 1, according to the DED.
"This is to save the rights of both parties, the tenants and the business owner," said Shael.
This covers only business contracts and not residential, he said.
The DED launched two new e-service initiatives Wednesday allowing business owners and investors, who have a UAE visit or residence visa, to get tentative government approval to start a business in Dubai or renew an existing licence online — from anywhere in the world.
Applicants seeking initial approval to start a business can upload the necessary documents and pay business fees by credit card or through select banks on the DED website.
The initiatives come as part of a DED plan to move away from physical transactions at their offices to offering all services online, said Mohammad Shael, chief executive of the Business Registration and Licensing Sector at DED.
"We are now in transition. We will stop the manual processes when online services are perfected 100 per cent and people are used to it. The target [for this move] depends on the number of licences processed online."
The e-services will result in some cost savings for the government in the long run, he said. Assuming nine per cent growth in the next five years, this would require doubling the registration capacity and opening different branches.
"In ten years we would need an army of registers. That's what we don't want to do," he said, adding that human capital should be moved from registering people to interacting with investors and selling Dubai as an investment destination.
Using e-services, applicants can avoid the Dh560 per transaction charged at the DED offices.
There are no processesing fees for the online services and no surcharges for paying by credit card, Shael added.
The DED has also partnered with three business centres and Al Tamimi and Company law firm to provide business registration and licensing services during non-working hours. The DED closes at 2.30pm and the business centres would operate until 9pm, he said. About 95 per cent of DED services are available onlineAsked if the practice of auditing the documents submitted online after granting initial approvals would increase the risk of fraudulent companies setting up, he said: "Since the DED started in 1992, statistics say 85 to 87 per cent of businessmen who set up in Dubai are genuine. Only a small percentage are fraudlent, we can't punish the majority for the minority... the risk won't stop us from enhancing our electronic services," he told Gulf News.
The number of new companies that set up in Dubai reached 5,684 from January to May this year, according to Mohammad Shael, chief executive of the Business Registration and Licensing Sector.
There has been a reduction in real estate-related activity but a parallel increase in retail, food and beverages, luxury goods, electronics and services sectors, he said.
The number of new licences is expected to rise five to eight per cent this year on the back of falling rentsi, he added. But 2010 alone saw a growth of 18 per cent in new companies coming here.
There are currently 190,000 companies in Dubai registered with DED, excluding those in the free zones, he said.
All business tenancy contracts must be attested by RERA starting July 1, according to the DED.
"This is to save the rights of both parties, the tenants and the business owner," said Shael.
This covers only business contracts and not residential, he said.
