The Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Developments (ADDED) Industrial Development Bureau (IDB) has declared the implementation of the first phase of its e-connection project in partnership with local and federal entities to facilitate the issuance of industrial licenses in Abu Dhabi, with the first phase being launched with the Ministry of Economy (MOE).

H.E Humaid Bin Butti Al Muhairi, Assistant Undersecretary for Commercial Affairs at MOE, stated that the e-connection initiative between MOE and ADDED is a substantial move towards strengthening the integration of roles between local and federal entities, with the ultimate aim of improving the UAEs business surroundings and support companies working in a number of sectors which includes the industrial sector.

H.E. Al Muhairi highlighted that the initiative enables the administrative processes which industrial companies want to fulfill to operate in Abu Dhabi. It in addition raises the standard of services to company owners as they can finalize licensing procedures under a one end shop platform offering automated electronic service.

He stated that MOE was one of the first federal entities to support the initiative which would facilitate the licensing applications specifically the publishing of official documents and payment of the social responsibility expenses required from the private sector.

Al Muhairi also mentioned that such initiatives carried out via the improvement of laws and methods for business owners, apart from the advanced infrastructure and a variety of investment incentives provided to investors, make contributions to enhancing Abu Dhabis role as a leading location for doing business in essential sectors such as industrial businesses. This present day move is constant with the targets of the UAE Vision 2021 to improve the countrys competitiveness and support to high value industries.

H.E. Mohammed Munif Al Mansouri, Executive Director, IDB, stated that integrating industrial licensing procedures between ADDED and the local and federal government entities concerned in the process of issuing licenses would facilitate and simplify the processes of setting up investment projects in the industrial sector.

Al Mansouri mentioned that the e-connection project for industrial licensing activities follows the success of a similar initiative for commercial licenses launched by ADDEDs Abu Dhabi Business Centre (ADBC) which effectively linked up the services of more than forty four local and federal government entities.

He mentioned that IDBs project seeks to improve the efficiency in submitting the requirements and the foremost steps followed by an industrial investor to secure quicker issuance of the license in Abu Dhabi, which includes automating the processes via ADDEDs website www.added.gov.ae and thereby improving the level of its services to industrial investors.

H.E. emphasized that the tie-up with local and federal entities that are involved in the process of issuing industrial licenses will make contributions to lowering the number of entities that ought to be referred to by the investor to attain approvals. The initiative offers a one-stop shop system which unifies the process of paying government fees as well as strengthens the exchange of information and data between ADDED and its strategic partners at the local and federal levels to similarly improve the local business environment in the emirate.

Al Mansouri stated: The e-connection initiative between IDB and the federal and local government entities is designed to facilitate the system of issuing industrial licenses, which then reduces investors time and effort and enables the issuance of their licenses. This contributes to improving the environment of doing business in Abu Dhabi.

According to Al Mansouri, the first phase of the initiative is a result of the successful cooperation with MOE, emphasizing that ADDED will proceed its efforts to finish the e-connection with all relevant government entities, contributing to improving the competitiveness of the local economy and support the sustainability of the UAEs economy.

The e-connection project between IDB and MOE consists of collection of fees for publishing the official document of the industrial facilitys Memorandum of Association as well as the social responsibility fees via the ADDEDs website. The connection enables the official document to be published automatically in the course of the process of issuing or amending the industrial license. Previously, the investor had to visit MOE to publish the official document and pay the prescribed fees after the issuance or amendment of the industrial license, in addition to visiting other government entities to complete the processes of licenses issuance.

IDB is presently working towards finalizing the e-connection with the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ADCCI) to encompass the processing of its membership certificates within the process of license issuance. The launch of a unified membership ID and the payment of Chambers fees are processed at the same time of issuing the industrial license with a Production or a converted to Production status. Previously, when issuing, amending or renewing the industrial license, the investor had to visit the ADCCI in person to secure the issuance of the membership certificate and pay the processing fees.