Abu Dhabi unveils initiative to hasten issuance of business licences

The e-contract and e-signature system will make the process much simpler for one-person and limited liability companies

About 46% of the UAE's consolidated government revenue came from hydrocarbons in 2019, according to an estimate from ratings agency Moody's Investors Service. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Abu Dhabi launched an initiative to hasten the issuance of business licences in an effort to boost economic activity and improve the emirate's ranking on the ease of doing business index.

The emirate's Department of Economic Development said the new e-contract and e-signature system will make the process of obtaining a licence for one-person and limited liability companies much simpler, state news agency Wam reported on Monday.

“It is in line with the department's constant efforts to improve Abu Dhabi’s competitiveness [when it comes to the] ease of doing business as it facilitates procedures and requirements for licensing economic activities,” Rashed Al Balooshi, undersecretary of the department, said.

“The e-contract and e-signature system is an important step towards enabling business owners to easily obtain their economic licences.”

The department has launched several initiatives to boost economic activity and support small and medium-sized enterprises in the emirate in recent weeks.

Earlier this month, it introduced a new initiative encouraging SMEs to promote locally made products, particularly healthcare supplies that could help reduce the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.

It also called on local and federal government entities to buy locally produced supplies to boost economic activity.

Under the new e-contract and e-signature system, an applicant can obtain a certified Memorandum of Association through the department's Abu Dhabi Business Centre website, which eliminates the need for a notary to physically review the documents required before a licence can be issued.

The department said the first phase of the initiative will be carried out as part of Tajer Abu Dhabi and All-in-One licence programmes, which include the provision of certified memorandums of association in Arabic and English.

Tajer Abu Dhabi allows companies to set up operations without a physical office.

Since the beginning of the year, 138 transactions were completed for the issuance of memorandums of association for limited liability and one-person companies while 1,759 Tajer Abu Dhabi and all-in-one licences were issued.

This accounts for about 30 per cent of the total number of economic licences issued in the emirate.

Abu Dhabi issued 18,628 new economic licences in 2019, an increase of 63.9 per cent compared to the previous year, according to figures released by the department in March.

The number of renewed business licences in 2019 stood at 80,477, with the total number of economic licences registered in the emirate hitting 172,577 last year.