If there is a strong example that you can suggest for the governments across the world to emulate, Dubai could be the perfect candidate. From being a barren town living on the back of oil reserves, Dubai has transformed itself into the global hub of economic and knowledge-based activities. The emirate also achieved strong strides in innovation along with other major sectors. The ease of doing business, highly developed infrastructure, a number of free zones that facilitate easier business setup in Dubai have been some of the trademarks that helped the emirate achieve its success. Further, the way it handles the COVID-19 pandemic is a great lesson for all the governments across the world.
The following is a list of 5 important lessons Dubai can teach the world:
1. Developing Multiple Revenue Sources is Crucial for Growth
Everyone who knows the history of the UAE must be aware of the fact that Dubai was mostly a barren town and the emirate’s sole source of revenue was the oil reserves. Even then, the emirate’s oil reserves were lesser than that of Abu Dhabi. The visionary leaders of Dubai sensed that there was an urgent need to bolster its revenue stream by identifying multiple channels that could bring in a significant income to the emirate.
Dubai diversified into trade, tourism, construction, finance, real estate, and manufacturing and the decision has proved to be a watershed moment in the history of the emirate. Between 2000 and 2013, Dubai’s real GDP grew around 9% annually compared to the entire GCC’s average of 5.6%. The new opportunities of business setup in Dubai lured investors from around the world and changed the face of the emirate forever.
2. Adapt to Modern Trends to Attract Foreign Investments
A key reason why the foreign investors flocked to Dubai was the government’s decision to allow more freedom to the business community in terms of rules as well as lifestyle. The 100% ownership options in the free zones, lack of income tax, zero corporate tax (except for banks, oil industry), a wide variety of economic activities and easy process of business setup in Dubai are a few among a slew of factors that facilitated the easy flow of investors into the emirate.
A great paradigm shift that Dubai implemented is the quick adoption of modernisation. For any Arab country, it is difficult to implement the cultural shift but Dubai was not hesitant to bring in a new outlook of life cleverly balancing modernism and traditional values. The less stringent outlook on living style was one of the prime reasons why more foreigners from Europe and America prefer company formation in Dubai over other GCC countries.
3. Innovation is the Cornerstone of Long-term Growth
Dubai has developed many strategies to diversify the economy and attract foreign investments and innovation is the key focus of all the strategies. The Smart Dubai 2021 strategy aims to achieve complete digital transformation by 2021 and as part of it, nearly all of the government services have been digitalized.
Also, Dubai has achieved great accomplishments in future-ready technologies such as Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, etc. To support innovation, Dubai has built tech-focussed free zones like Dubai Silicon Oasis, Dubai Internet City, etc. Company formation in Dubai free zones that are focused on Technology has accelerated foreign investments as well as bolster the emirate’s strategies on innovation.
4. Build Great infrastructure to Attract Foreign Investors
Above all the other achievements, Dubai is mostly known for its robust infrastructure, especially the seaports, airports, and the great skyscrapers such as Burj Khalifa. Dubai has been following the strategy of constructing breath-taking buildings and makes them as appealing as possible. Dubai’s mega ambitions are visible in the buildings it has constructed including hotels, malls, business centres, urban residential areas. Palm Jumeirah, the island that is shaped like a palm tree speaks volumes of Dubai’s strategy of attracting investors by constructing flashy and innovative projects. The faster rate of designing and finishing the mega projects have played a crucial role in attracting more foreign investors into company formation in Dubai.
5. Be in Control and Show Resilience when Adversity Knocks at the Door
The true power of an economy shows itself during times of great adversity. Dubai has shown its power and resilience in the way it handled the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic started off as a health crisis soon snowballed into an economic challenge. The big powers of the world surprisingly struggled in the face of the unexpected crisis and failed in handling the crisis efficiently. Even a scientifically advanced country like the US has been struggling with the lack of medical facilities including surgical masks and PPE kits. In contrast, Dubai promptly responded to the crisis and was able to flatten the curve quicker than any other country.
A slew of stimulus packages and incentives have been announced to support the business setup in Dubai and also to ensure business continuity. Sunrise sectors like E-commerce, Fintech, IT, Delivery Services, Telemedicine, etc. emerged and the government started focusing on attracting investments in such sectors.
How Jitendra Business Consultants can Help?
Everyone attributes the success of Dubai to its decision of diversifying into a knowledge-based economy from an oil-based economy. Though ‘diversification’ has been the core of Dubai’s success, there are also other major reasons such as the focus on innovation, development of infrastructure, ability to handle the crisis, adoption of modern outlook, etc. All these factors are in fact great lessons that investors and governments across the world can take from Dubai.
However, initiating the process of business setup in Dubai is a strategic decision that requires the professional assistance of reputed business setup consultants. The free zone and mainland business setup in Dubai differ greatly in terms of ownership and restrictions on activities. While the mainland company formation in Dubai requires a local sponsor who holds 5% of shares, the free zone offers 100% ownership. However, the restriction on activities is a big limitation of company formation in Dubai free zones. This is where reputed business setup consultants in Dubai such as Jitendra Business Consultants (JBC) come in handy for the investors. JBC has a team of highly qualified business setup consultants who has sound knowledge in labour laws and immigration laws as well as experience in handling the authorities. By entrusting JBC’s business setup services in Dubai the investors can incorporate their companies in peace of mind.