UAE Ministry of Economy signs MOU with government agencies for adoption of the 'Uniform Commercial Register'

The MoU is a crucial first step in fully realising the program at the national level after a Projects Management team from the Ministry visited the different emirates to explain the advantages of the program.

Among the government departments visited by the Ministry's representatives were the Planning and Economic Department in Abu Dhabi, the Economic Departments in Dubai and Sharjah, Ajman Municipality, Ajman Chamber of Trade and Industry, Economic Development Department of Um Al-Qaiwain, Ras Al-Khaimah Economic Department, and the municipalities of Al Fujairah and Deba Al Fujairah.

H.E. Hamid bin Butti Al Mahiri, Assistant Under Secretary for Corporate and Supervision Affairs, said: "We expect to sign the contract next month with the concerned agencies in the different emirates for the execution of this project. This is part of the efforts of the ministry to standardise business activities across all sectors in the country."

H.E. Al Mahiri also praised the cooperation and support extended by the heads of the various government agencies in finalising the MoU for the project. Among those he thanked were H.E. Mohammed Omar Abdullah, Undersecretary - Planning and Economic Department; H.E. Ali Ibrahim Mohamed, Vice General Director of the Dubai Chamber of Economic Development; H.E. Ali Bin Salem Al-Mahmoud, General Director of the Economic Development Department in Sharjah; H.E. Eng. Rashid Hamdan Abdullah, Director of Al Fujairah Municipality; Muhammad Hamrani, General Director of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Ajman; H.E. Dr. Abdallah Ahmed Mesfr, General Director of the Economic Department, Um Al-Qaiwain; H.E. Hassan Salem Mohamed Al Yamahi, Director of Deba Al Fujairah Municipality; Professor Dr. Hassan Hamdan Al Alkim, General Director of the Department of Economic Development, Ras Al-Khaimah; and H.E. Ali Abdullah Al Hamrani, General Director of Ajman Municipality.

Muhammad Nasir Al Bluchi, Project Department Manager, Ministry of Economy, said: "The Uniform Commercial Register project is the first of its kind in the UAE in terms of the methods and mechanisms in technical implementation (as an inter-government project), where the Ministry will be linking the electronic systems of the economic departments, the chambers of commerce and local municipalities in each emirate with a central system managed by the Ministry of Economy. This will help improve efficiency in organizing the registration of trade names at the national level, and ensure that there is no duplication of registration in any of the emirates, providing a Uniform Invister's Register across the country."

"The project is also important in building Economic Centralised Databases, which will allow the Ministry to prepare special reports about the size and number of the investors in the country. The data on business licenses will also help us create more suitable economic policies in the future," concluded Al Bluchi.

Over the last three years, the Ministry of Economy has invested around Dhs20m in various strategic technical projects for developing its infrastructure in the technical field.