Dubai Department of Economic Development (DED) said it has issued 3,584 licences for several types of businesses in the emirate in the first quarter of 2010, recording a 30 per cent increase from the same period last year.

Majority of the licences were issued in the commercial sector (2752) followed by the professional sector (749), tourism (42) and industry (41), according to a DED statement.

‘Ready made garments’ led the list of the top 10 licensed activities in the commercial category with 465 licences issued, followed by ‘Perfumes and cosmetics’ with 381 and ‘General trade’ with 344.

‘Restaurants’ topped the list in the 'licensed activities in the professional category' with 117 licences issued in the first quarter, followed by ‘Residences and building cleaning services’ with 96 and ‘café’ and ‘men’s barber’ with 51 for each.

In tourism activities, ‘travel agencies’ and ‘internal tourism organizers’ were on top of the list with 15 licences each, followed by ‘hotels’ with 9 and ‘Leasing of hotel apartments’ with 4 licences.

In industrial activities, ‘Blacksmithing and welding workshops’ led the list of the top 10 licensed activities with 5 licences followed by ‘Metal work industry for construction’, ‘Turnery’ and ‘Ships and boats repair’ with 4 licences for each.

The Intlaq scheme, an initiative by the DED to encourage more UAE nationals to set up businesses from home, recorded strong performance with 552 licences issued in the first quarter of the year, a 91 per cent increase over the same period last year. The largest growth was recorded in the trade category followed by professional category.

Sami Al Qamzi, director general, DED, said the department provided a varied and integrated bouquet of services to ensure time and cost savings for its clients.

"These services are tailored to meet all their requirements effectively. The quarterly report confirms the success of our initiatives and procedures, and affirms the growing investor interest in undertaking diverse businesses in Dubai," he added.

The total number of transactions during the first quarter of 2010 reached 89,787 compared to 79,930 in the same period last year, up 21 per cent increase. The number of amended licenses surged 10 per cent to 10,851 from 9,842 issued during the same period last year, the DED statement added.-TradeArabia News Service