In a major overhaul, the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development or ADDED has done away with more than 20,000 licensing requirements that were previously required for setting up a business in Abu Dhabi. For example, there is now only one requirement for the automotive parts and maintenance business activity, which used to be highly regulated earlier.There were hitherto a total of 28,788 licensing requirements for various business activities put in place by some 26 Government agencies, both local and federal. About 71% of these have now been eliminated in a move to increase the ease of doing business in Abu Dhabi and establish the emirate as an investment-friendly destination. The exercise, which began in August 2021, is expected to impact multiple sectors such as transportation, healthcare, public health, agriculture, food, and environment. The Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development aims to position Abu Dhabi as a preferred place to do business, both at the regional level as well as the international level. It worked closely with various Government agencies such as the Abu Dhabi Police, which decreased the number of licensing requirements it had for various commercial activities from 387 to 80 – a reduction of 79%.
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The Public Health & Safety Division of the Department of Municipal Affairs and Transport recorded the highest drop of 95% as it cut the number of licensing requirements for 1215 business activities from 9,654 to just 511. The Abu Dhabi Sports Council reduced the number of licensing requirements for 58 business activities from 949 to a mere 82, which is a decrease of 91%.
The Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development cut the number of licensing requirements for 118 business activities from 709 to 162, which translates into a 77% decrease. The Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority, for its part, reduced the number of licensing requirements for 288 business activities to 1,716 from the earlier figure of 6,587. This represents a 74% decrease in the number of licensing requirements by the Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority.
The Department of Health lowered the number of licensing requirements for 84 business activities from 1512 to 672, which translates into a 56% decrease. The Securities and Commodities Authority cut the number of licensing requirements for various business activities from 1160 to 700, which translates into a reduction of 40%.
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His Excellency Rashed Abdul Kareem Al Blooshi, the UnderSecretary of the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development, said that the steps were taken to increase the competitiveness of Abu Dhabi at all levels. He added that Abu Dhabi would continuously seek to improve its regulations as well as its systems and services to provide an accommodating environment where businesses and investors could thrive in an innovative economy that was rapidly transforming itself.
Sameh Al Qubaisi, the Executive Director of the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development elaborated that the move was part of the emirate’s plans to diversify away from oil. It would help create a knowledge-based economy which would attract the best of global talent from all over the world and across various sectors. The GITEX Technology Week held in October 2021 showcased the information and services that investors require to set up a business in Abu Dhabi.
In July 2021, Abu Dhabi had slashed business setup fees by more than 90% to just AED 1,000. Abu Dhabi has unveiled a AED 50 billion or $13.62 billion three-year accelerator program named Ghadan 21 to support small and medium enterprises, along with visa reforms. Through a series of initiatives and strategic investments aimed at strengthening the private sector, Abu Dhabi remains on course to bolstering its non-oil economy further.
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