Dubai’s creative free zones are exploring ways to promote part-time employment.
“Dubai wants to be the most innovative city on the planet, which means competing with the most innovative cities on the planet,” said Ali BuRuhaima, the deputy director general at Dubai Creative Clusters Authority (DCCA), formerly known as the Dubai Technology and Media Free Zone Authority.
“We will also be tackling how to hire people temporarily or part-time, and creating visas for people who do not necessarily work five days a week.”
The licensing authority for 10 free-zone clusters including Dubai Internet City, Dubai Outsource Zone and Dubai Media City, is throwing down the gauntlet to London, New York, Bangalore and any other city competing for creative entrepreneurs.
It considers the costs of starting an innovative business here as prohibitive and wants to attract the brightest and best to open businesses in Dubai.
“We are looking at the costs of starting a business here and we are looking at ways of making it more affordable,” he said. “In the digital world things can change very quickly, so our first task is to ensure that hiring staff can be done electronically – with a one-stop shop that is available now, and any bureaucracy that really is not needed has been stripped out.”
The DCCA oversees 4,242 companies with 64,027 employees.
Dubai’s Design District (D3) is the latest free zone to come under the DCCA’s remit. The authority hopes to emulate, and even surpass, the creative urban areas of London’s Shoreditch and New York’s meatpacking district.
“While Dubai may not seem a natural place for urban creativity, D3 will be a creative space in Dubai’s image,” said Mr BuRuhaima. “We have over 200 nationalities here of all ages and it will flourish with all those creative talents allowed to mix together.”
ascott@thenational.ae
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