Decree
No. (13) of 2024
Establishing
the Unified Digital Window for
Establishing Companies in
the Emirate of Dubai[1]
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We,
Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Ruler of Dubai,
Federal Law by Decree No. (32)
of 2021 Concerning Commercial Companies;
Cabinet Resolution No. (55) of 2021 Determining the
List of Activities with Strategic Impact;
Law No. (5) of 1995
Establishing the Department of Finance;
Law No. (13) of 2011 Regulating the Conduct of
Economic Activities in the Emirate of Dubai and its amendments;
Law No. (5) of 2021
Concerning the Dubai International Financial Centre;
Law No. (20) of 2021
Establishing the Department of Economy and Tourism in the Emirate of Dubai;
Law No. (9) of 2022
Regulating the Provision of Digital Services in the Emirate of Dubai;
Law No. (22) of 2023
Concerning the Dubai Digital Authority;
Law No. (26) of 2023
Concerning the Executive Council of the Emirate of Dubai;
Decree No. (22) of 2009
Concerning Special Development Zones in the Emirate of Dubai; and
The legislation
establishing and regulating free zones in the Emirate of Dubai,
Do hereby issue this Decree.
The following words and expressions, wherever mentioned in this Decree,
will have the meaning indicated opposite each of them unless the context
implies otherwise:
|
Emirate: |
The Emirate of Dubai. |
|
Executive Council: |
The Executive Council of the Emirate of
Dubai. |
|
DET: |
The Department of Economy and Tourism in the
Emirate of Dubai. |
|
Licensing Entity: |
The DET or any of the authorities supervising
Special Development Zones and free zones, including the Dubai International
Financial Centre. |
|
Competent Entity: |
A federal or local government entity which
is in charge of regulating, supervising, and monitoring the conduct of
Economic Activities in the Emirate, and whose applicable legislation requires
the issuance of the relevant Permits and Approvals authorising Companies to
conduct their activities. |
|
Investor: |
A natural or legal person who establishes a
Company, through the Digital Window, and conducts an Economic Activity in the
Emirate in accordance with the legislation in force. |
|
Company: |
This includes: 1.
any company that takes one of the legal forms stipulated in the
above-mentioned Federal Law by Decree No. (32) of 2021; 2.
any civil company or sole proprietorship regulated by the legislation
in force in the Emirate; and 3.
any company or establishment that takes one of the legal forms
stipulated in the legislation in force in free zones, including the Dubai
International Financial Centre. |
|
Economic Activity: |
Any commercial, industrial, artisan,
occupational, agricultural, service, or other for-profit activity authorised
in the Emirate in accordance with the legislation in force. |
|
Licence: |
An electronic document which is issued by a
Licensing Entity through the Digital Window, and under which a Company is
established and its articles of association are approved. |
|
Permit / Approval: |
An electronic document which is issued by a
Competent Entity through the Digital Window, and under which a Company is
authorised to conduct its activity after fulfilling the technical and
specialised conditions and requirements approved by that Competent Entity. |
|
Digital Window: |
A unified Digital Platform called “Invest in
Dubai” developed in the Emirate with the aim of simplifying and regulating
the procedures for issuing, renewing, cancelling, and amending Licences,
Permits, and Approvals. This platform is used by Investors to establish
Companies, and is electronically connected to the electronic systems of
Licensing Entities and Competent Entities, each within its own jurisdiction. |
|
Manual: |
An electronic document containing the
procedures, conditions, requirements, and time frames that must be satisfied,
observed, and complied with, and the fees that must be paid, for issuing,
renewing, cancelling, and amending Licences by the DET and for issuing,
renewing, cancelling, and amending Permits, and Approvals. |
|
Investor’s Journey: |
A set of procedures, requirements, and steps
that an Investor goes through, starting from the submission of a Licence
application until obtaining the Permits and Approvals authorising that
Investor to conduct his Economic Activity. |
The provisions of this Decree apply to all Economic Activities conducted
in the Emirate.
This Decree aims to:
1. create an investment
environment that supports economic growth in the Emirate, by ensuring the
integration of the efforts of Licensing Entities and Competent Entities in
establishing and licensing Companies and enabling them to conduct their
Economic Activities seamlessly;
2. create and develop a
unified Digital Window to enhance the Investor’s experience in the Emirate,
through specific channels that enable him to search for information and obtain
Licenses and other services related to conducting his Economic Activity easily
and smoothly;
3. regulate the issuance of
Licenses, Permits, and Approvals in the Emirate, in accordance with clear, specific,
and simplified rules and procedures that support the Investor’s Journey;
4. address the obstacles
facing Investors when establishing Companies or conducting Economic Activities
in the Emirate;
5. enhance coordination and
electronic connection between Licensing Entities and Competent Entities in
respect of all matters related to issuing Licences, Permits, and Approvals; and
support the Digital Transformation process in the Emirate;
6. consolidate the efforts of
Licensing Entities and Competent Entities to ensure avoiding the duplication of
procedures, requirements, or conditions for conducting Economic Activities in
the Emirate; and
7. provide value-added
services that meet and exceed the needs and expectations of Investors during
their journeys of conducting Economic Activities in the Emirate.
a. Applications to obtain,
renew, amend, or cancel Licences, and all other applications related to issuing
Permits and Approvals for conducting Economic Activities in the Emirate, will
be submitted through the Digital Window in accordance with the procedures,
conditions, requirements, and time frames stipulated in the Manual.
b. Licensing Entities and
Competent Entities will, each within its own jurisdiction, issue, renew, amend,
or cancel Licences; and issue Permits and Approvals related to conducting
Economic Activities in the Emirate through the Digital Window, in accordance
with the regulations and legislation applicable to these entities, and the
rules stipulated in the Manual.
c. Notwithstanding the
provisions of paragraphs (a) and (b) of this Article, the applications for
obtaining, renewing, amending, and cancelling Licences, Permits and Approvals
for the purposes of registering Companies and conducting their activities within
a Special Development Zone or a free zone, including the Dubai International
Financial Centre, will be submitted through the Digital Window. These
applications will be processed through the electronic systems, and subject to
the procedures, conditions, requirements, time frames, and payment of the fees,
adopted by the authority supervising that zone and the relevant Competent
Entities.
The DET will, in coordination with Licensing Entities and Competent
Entities, create, operate, manage, supervise, and develop the Digital Window.
In particular, the DET will have the duties and powers to:
1. regulate the process of
obtaining Licences, Permits, and Approvals and other applications related to conducting
Economic Activities through the Digital Window;
2. create and update a
unified database of all information related to Licences and to conducting the
Economic Activities supervised by the DET, in accordance with the legislation
in force in the Emirate;
3. coordinate and cooperate
with Licensing Entities and Competent Entities; establish electronic connection
between their electronic systems and the Digital Window; and collect the
prescribed fees, the fines, the security deposits, and any other amounts
payable to these authorities, in accordance with the legislation in force in
the Emirate;
4. operate and develop the
Digital Window based on the Digital Transformation technical standards and
guidelines developed by the Dubai Digital Authority;
5. add, modify, remove, or
merge any of the Economic Activities covered by the Digital Window, in
coordination with the Licensing Entities and Competent Entities;
6. conclude agreements and
memoranda of understanding with the federal entities in charge of supervising
and monitoring Economic Activities, in accordance with the legislation
applicable thereto, for the purpose of establishing electronic connection
between these entities and the Digital Window; and
7. exercise any other duties
or powers conducive to the achievement of the objectives of this Decree, as
assigned to it by the Chairman of the Executive Council.
The DET will prepare the Manual in coordination with the Competent
Entities. The Manual must contain the procedures, conditions, requirements, and
time frames for issuing, renewing, cancelling, and amending Licences, Permits,
and Approvals; and for processing any other applications related to conducting
Economic Activities in the zones supervised by the DET. In developing the Manual,
the legislation in force in the Emirate, the Investor’s Journey principles
approved by the Chairman of the Executive Council, and the objectives of this
Decree must be observed.
For the purposes of this Decree, all
Government Entities in the Emirate, as the case may be, must:
1. provide, in coordination
with the DET, their services in respect of the Licences, Permits, and Approvals
for conducting Economic Activities, through the Digital Window;
2. provide the DET with the
data, statistics, documents, and information it requests in relation to the
Economic Activities supervised by the DET;
3. coordinate with the DET
during the preparation and review of the legislation regulating the issuance of
Licences, Permits, and Approvals and any amendment that affects the conduct of
the Economic Activities supervised by the DET;
4. provide the DET with their
applicable procedures, conditions, requirements, and time frames for issuing
Permits and Approvals, and any updates to the same, to enable the DET to update
the Manual accordingly;
5. verify their data on the
Digital Window and in the Manual, review this data periodically, and provide
the DET with the outcomes of the review;
6. standardise the procedures
and requirements for providing government services through their Digital
Platforms and service centres;
7. cooperate with the DET to
enable it to prepare and update the Manual in a manner that simplifies the
procedures followed by the Competent Entities, with a view to enabling
Investors to obtain Permits and Approvals easily and smoothly through the
Digital Window; and
8. take any other action
determined by the DET and related to achieving the objectives of this Decree.
The
DET and Competent Entities must facilitate the Investor’s Journey in the Emirate and take the relevant necessary procedures and measures, and must use the
Digital Window and follow the principles of facilitating the Investor’s Journey approved pursuant to the relevant resolution of the Chairman of the Executive
Council.
The Chairman of the Executive
Council will issue the resolutions required for the implementation of the
provisions of this Decree.
Any provision in any other
legislation is hereby repealed to the extent that it contradicts the provisions
of this Decree.
This Decree will be published in the
Official Gazette and will come into force on the day on which it is published.
Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum
Ruler of Dubai
Issued in Dubai on 1 March
2024
Corresponding
to 20 Shaban 1445 A.H.
©2024 The Supreme
Legislation Committee in the Emirate of Dubai
[1]Every effort
has been made to produce an accurate and complete English version of this
legislation. However, for the purpose of its interpretation and application,
reference must be made to the original Arabic text. In case of conflict, the
Arabic text will prevail.