Doing Business in UAE - Morison Menon

DOING BUSINESS IN
Dubai
From its earliest days, Dubai has been involved
in trading. For over six centuries, its creek has
provided a safe haven for the merchant vessels
laden with goods from Dubai’s traditional trading
partners in the Far East, Indian subcontinent
and Africa. In the past, these goods were sold to
the camel caravan tribes in the vast desert hinterland.
Today, the city is a major re-export centre
and the world comes to shop in Dubai. Dubai
was also once one of the world’s foremost pearling
centres. The emergence of cultured pearls
in the 1930’s could well have devastated the
economy, however, Dubai with a reputation as a
world centre for trading in gold and other pre-
cious metals continues right up to this day. Dubai
is the second largest of the seven Emirates. The
Late Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Rashid,
together with late His Highness Sheikh Zayed,
former President of the UAE, were instrumental
in forming the federation, which has brought
stability and prosperity to the region.
Procedure for Licencing in Dubai
The Department of Economic Development, with
the institutional support from the Dubai Chamber
of Commerce & Industry, is the statutory body
that regulates and controls the licencing procedures
for an entity in Dubai. It was formed to
organize and activate industry as well as internal
and external trade in the Emirate and prepare
studies relating to industrial and commercial
activities.
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Types of Licences issued in Dubai
1. Trade Licence
A trade licence is issued to a natural or juridical
person to practice any trading activity for the
purpose of profit making through buying and
selling of goods. These licences are issued for
engaging wholesale or retail trade enterprises,
contractors, hotels, transport and storing estab-
lishments etc.,
A Trading Licence can be a General Trading or
Specific Trading. A specific trading licence limits
the scope of activities to trade in only closely
related items. [For e.g. a company can not trade
in building materials, if its licenced activity is
trading in computer peripherals]
2. Industrial License
An industrial licence is issued to a natural or
juridical person to practice any investment activ-
ity, the object of which is to discover natural
resources or transform raw materials in terms
of its structure or appearance into manufactured
products or to transform the semi-manufactured
products into fully manufactured products by
using mechanical power and segregate the prod-
ucts, filling, assembling or packing them.
3. Professional Licence
A professional licence is issued to a natural or
juridical person to practice any profession in
which he depends on his physical or mental
efforts rather than depending on a cash capital.
This licence is issued to practise certain profes-
sions such as engineering consultancy, other
consultancy services and studies, auditing and