The fee exemption applies to registered Emirati members who have not completed the five-year period

The Government of Dubai has extended the five-year exemption given earlier to Emirati members of Dubai SME from paying licence fees to seven years.

Under Article No. (10) of Law No. (23) 2009, the licensing fee applicable on SMEs was Dhs1,000 for the first three years from the issuance of the licence, and Dhs2,000 for the fourth and fifth years.

The extension of fee exemption granted now applies to registered members of Dubai SME who have not completed the five-year period stipulated in Article No. (10) of Law No. (23) 2009. New members are not eligible for the extension.

The five-year exemption granted earlier contributed to reducing financial burdens faced by startups.

The decision was made as part of a directive issued by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Crown Prince and Chairman of The Executive Council, as part of a series of initiatives aimed to support entrepreneurs and their startups to tide over the challenges posed by the pandemic and to address their concerns about growth and cash flow.

The Department of Finance, in coordination with the General Secretariat of the Executive Council and Dubai SME, has launched a series initiatives for small and medium-sized companies since 2018, which included allocating 20 per cent of government purchases for Dubai SME members and special dealings with regard to primary and final insurance as well as accelerating payment of corporate dues, in addition to other benefits granted by Law No. 12 of 2020 on Contracts and Warehouse management in Dubai Government.

In Dubai, SMEs constitute nearly 95 per cent of all companies, employing 42 per cent of all workforce in the emirate and contributing to around 40 per cent of Dubai’s GDP, according to state-run news agency WAM.

Since 2002, Dubai SME has supported 10,803 member SMEs with incentives and relief measures worth over Dhs995m.

“Dubai has already announced five stimulus packages worth AED7.1 billion in the aftermath of Covid-19 and the outcomes have been phenomenal in terms of the emirate resuming full-scale economic activity while also enhancing its business competitiveness and investment attractiveness,” said Abdulrahman Al Saleh, Director General of the Department of Finance, Government of Dubai.

“Emirati entrepreneurs should be particularly supported and motivated since they are critical to ensuring the sustainability of the labour market and building a competitive national cadre, a key target emphasised once again by the leadership in the ‘Projects of the 50.’”

Source:https://gulfbusiness.com/emirati-members-of-dubai-sme-to-get-seven-year-exemption-on-licence-fee/

Dubai’s financial regulator has set up a task force to drive forward standards related to sustainable finance, which is becoming increasingly popular in the Gulf region.

Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) said it has launched the Task Force on Sustainable Finance (TFSF) in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).

Comprised of members from 12 DIFC-based entities, the TFSF aims to drive forward discussions regarding sustainable finance in the DIFC with the aim of supporting the application and adoption of global regulatory standards.

DFSA said sustainability forms a key area of its regulatory focus and is actively involved in numerous sustainability-orientated regulatory groups, including the Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS), the Sustainable Insurance Forum (SIF) and the UAE Working Group on Sustainable Finance.

In launching the TFSF in the DIFC, the DFSA aims to harness its involvement in global forums and the global experience of DIFC firms to bring global best-practice to the development of sustainable finance in the DIFC.

Christopher Calabia, chief executive of the DFSA, said: “The financial services sector has an important role to play in ensuring that we leverage the power of the purse to reduce emissions and funnel capital toward innovations in energy and carbon capture that will help us to flatten the curve of increases in average temperatures.”

He added that as a significant global hub for banking, securities, and insurance, the DIFC has a part to play in this work as well which is why the engagement of industry leaders in discussions with regulators and supervisors is so important.

Representatives from Blackrock, Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, HSBC Bank Middle East Limited, Lloyd’s of London, Moody’s Investors Service Middle East Limited, Natixis, PwC, Standard Chartered Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, and Zurich Insurance Company Ltd attended the meeting.

The SFTF will next meet in January to discuss the next steps and how the work could be progressed, a statement said.

Last month, HSBC CEO Noel Quinn forecast that 2021 is set to be the first trillion-dollar year for green bonds, with a “major industrial transformation” in the next decade pushing firms to become carbon neutral or carbon light.

Speaking at the Middle East Green Initiative Summit in Riyadh, Quinn said that in the first nine months of 2021, green social and sustainable bonds raised more than $777 billion.

Saudi British Bank (SABB) recently became the first Saudi institution to make a green deposit as the clamour for sustainable finance increases in the Gulf region.

The funds, deposited with HSBC in the UAE, will be used solely to finance green initiatives.

It was the first green deposit issued in UAE dirham and one of the first green deposits made by a financial institution in the Middle East.

The deal comes just a few months after HSBC launched green deposits in the UAE. The bank said interest in the sustainable financing option has been immediate, with this being the third green deposit issued so far.

Source:https://www.arabianbusiness.com/gcc/uae/dubai-sets-up-task-force-to-drive-green-finance-ambitions

The UAE non-oil sector posted a marked increase in new business during October, driven by rising spending and tourism amid the opening of Expo 2020.

According to IHS Markit UAE Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), economic indicators derived from monthly surveys of private sector companies, confidence regarding future activity also improved significantly.

The PMI surged to 55.7 in October, from 53.3 in September. This was the highest reading since June 2019.

An economist at IHS Markit, David Owen said that the Expo 2020 brought a highly welcome upsurge in growth across the non-oil private sector.

“The increases in both output and new business were sharp and the most marked since July 2019. In addition, the boost to sales led more companies to predict a rise in activity over the next 12 months, as optimism jumped to the highest level since the beginning of the pandemic,” he said.

“The key test for the UAE economy will be whether this initial uplift in demand from the Expo can be sustained over the coming months. We also wait to see whether this will strengthen employment growth, as latest data showed a subdued rate of hiring despite growing pressure on business capacity.”

According to panellists, Expo drove increased sales in several sectors as tourism strengthened and investment spending rose. In contrast to domestic sales, export orders ticked up only marginally at the start of the fourth quarter.

In addition to Expo, firms noted that the loosening of pandemic restrictions also helped to boost activity.

Source:https://www.khaleejtimes.com/expo/expo-2020-dubai-uae-private-sector-growth-surges

The programme operated by the Dubai Technology Entrepreneur Campus will offer services worth over Dhs550,000

The Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority (DSOA) has launched Sandbox, a startup programme that supports early-stage technology startups to scale and raise funds.

The 12-month programme run by the Dubai Technology Entrepreneur Campus (Dtec), DSOA’s wholly owned tech hub and coworking space, is open to early-stage startups from MVP to seed stage, with a rolling application process.

Enrolled entrepreneurs will follow a structured curriculum which includes theoretical and practical workshops, mentorship sessions and networking opportunities that will help them grow their startups.

Dtec has dedicated a funding purse to be invested in promising startups of the programme. Dtec is offering Sandbox participants exclusive company setup rates, equivalent to Dhs9,500. The programme will provide each participant access to leading venture capital funds, and broad services provided by DSOA’s partners worth more than Dhs550,000, according to the Dubai Media Office.

Sandbox is built on six key pillars: product development, traction, scaling, financial diagnostics, wellbeing and legal support.

Startups enrolled in the programme will benefit from over 200 hours of practical workshops and more than 100 hours of one-on-one mentorship from practitioners and field-experts.

Entrepreneurs will also have access to a full suite of diagnostic tools for financial efficiency and legal compliance.

Dtec offers coworking spaces, business accelerators, R&D facilities, event spaces and digital business setup support including licensing. It houses more than 1,000 startups from 75 countries. Through the centre, DSOA supports entrepreneurs, startups and innovators, especially those that operate in the technology, Ai and digitalisation spaces.

“The launch of the Sandbox startup programme coincides with the Projects of the 50, a strategic set of initiatives that will lay the foundations for a new development cycle in various economic sectors. All these projects position the nation as a destination for talents, skilled individuals, entrepreneurs, startup founders, innovators and investors,” said Dr. Mohammed Al Zarooni, vice chairman and CEO of DSOA.

“Dubai Silicon Oasis, and its wholly owned Dtec, have extensive experience as a tech hub and an incubator for entrepreneurs and startups, supporting them in transforming their innovative ideas into reality and empowering them in securing financing. The programme is the first of its kind in the region, founder-centric, addressing a gap in early-stage initiatives.”

Source:https://gulfbusiness.com/dubai-silicon-oasis-authority-launches-sandbox-programme-to-support-early-stage-tech-startups/