A couple of weeks ago, my mother asked me to speak to one of her friends, a budding Emirati entrepreneur who wanted to start her art business, and provide her with some guidance on business registration. We met over coffee, and she was overwhelmed with the many questions that fresh entrepreneurs often deal with: she didn’t know whether she should register for a trade license through Abu Dhabi’s free zones, or through Abu Dhabi’s Department of Economic Development. She did not know whether she was obligated to rent an office space, or if there was an option where she could start without one? Her mind was in a whirlwind, and she felt that the process was extremely hard and time-consuming.
I don’t blame her. I remember that when I wanted to apply for a trade license, I had no idea where to go. I didn’t know if an office space was mandatory to obtain a license- in fact, I thought it was pointless in my case as a branding and marketing consultant, especially when we live in an over-connected digital world where everything can be done online. It was so confusing, and I know that this is one of the issues that is holding back many budding entrepreneurs in Abu Dhabi. On the bright side, when I finally decided where to register my business, I was up and running in less than two weeks, and with costs that didn’t break my bank account.
That’s the beauty about starting a business in the UAE, and especially in Abu Dhabi. The World Bank also ranked the UAE first among Arab countries for ease of doing business for the third year in a row in 2015. Many entrepreneurs may not necessarily associate Abu Dhabi as a growing entrepreneurial hub, but rest assured that it is. The figures say it all: the total number of business licenses registered in Abu Dhabi at the end of quarter one of last year was 108,016, with 66,023 licenses in Abu Dhabi, 30,715 in Al Ain, and 11,278 in the Western Region.
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