The Department of Economic Development - Ajman (DED-Ajman) issued 1,458 business licenses during the last quarter of 2018, demonstrating a 53 per cent increase compared to the same period in 2017, it said in a report.

The report also reveals a 76 per cent increase in the total number of professional licenses issued in Q4 of 2018--releasing around 1,028 licenses as compared to the 585 licenses issued in 2017.

The report also shows that a total of 186 industrial licenses were released during the last three months of 2018, including the issuance of 20 'Bidayat' licenses and 6 renewed licenses, which are usually given to UAE citizens engaging in any economic activity from their homes with full exemption from fees. DED-Ajman has also pointed out a 12 per cent decrease in cancelled licenses--191 cancellations as opposed to the 216 cancelled licenses made during the last quarter of 2017.

Ali Issa Al Nuaimi, director general, DED-Ajman, said, “These figures underscore the importance of the Department's active endeavours to enhance the investment leadership of Ajman, which also reflects the importance of the policies we have implemented to enhance business competitiveness and sustain corporate growth across the emirate’s different business sectors.

“Rest assured, DED-Ajman will remain fully committed in its efforts to continue the acceleration of economic growth and enhance the business environment in Ajman—falling in line with Vision 2021 and in cooperation with various strategic partners from government and private entities. Our move is to further consolidate efforts to attract investments into Ajman, especially in priority sectors identified by the Ajman vision, namely industry, tourism, logistics, outsourcing and media.”

The results also showed a number of the most required activities needed in acquiring new licenses, like ‘building maintenance,’ which came first in the number of 413 licenses, followed by ‘building internal cleaning services’ with 117 licenses while ‘activities of external cleaning services for buildings’ licenses came in third with 84 licenses. Meanwhile, licenses for ‘retail sale of men's clothing’ reached 51 licenses, followed by ‘interior decoration works and ‘snack vending activities (cafeteria).’ – TradeArabia News Service