UAE is one of the most active reformers in the region, says Doing Business Report

Dignitaries at the forum included, HE Nasser Ahmed Al Suwaidi, Chairman, Department of Economic Development in Abu Dhabi (DED); HE Dr. Jassim Al Mannai, Director General and Chairman of Board, Arab Monetary Fund; HE Abdullah Lootah, Secretary General, Emirates Competitiveness Council (ECC), Dahlia Khalifah, Senior Strategy Advisor, Doing Business Projects, World Bank-IFC and HE Mohammed Omar Abdullah, Undersecretary, Department of Economic Development in Abu Dhabi (DED).

In his welcome speech HE Nasser Ahmed Al Suwaidi, welcomed the participants of this strategic forum, which embodied the effective cooperation between the DED, the World Bank Group, the Arab Monetary Fund and the Emirates Competitiveness Council.

He said, "Choosing the 'Business Environment in the Arab World' as the primary topic of the forum clearly reflects its importance for decision makers and businesses in the region."

He added that there was a clear diversity in the global competitiveness reports, which have resulted in a new type of competition between countries and economies towards consolidating and enhancing their ranking within these global report ratings.

"These rankings are a true reflection of competitive economies. In addition, they also highlight the desire of countries to showcase their areas of improvement and development as well as potential reforms which allows for greater integration into the global economy," he said.

HE Nasser Ahmed Al Suwaidi added that due to the importance given to competitiveness issues in general and the business environment in particular, by the visionary leadership of the United Arab Emirates, the country has recently witnessed a number of achievements and developments within the business environment. The effects of these achievements are clearly visible at the federal and local levels.

He emphasized that UAE's achievements are a result of the keen vision and aspirations of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the President of UAE, as well as the leadership of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai. The aim is to unleash the hidden potentials of the economy and create an open environment for foreign investment through the adoption of policies and legislations that stimulate development and investment.

"The inspiring goal of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces and Chairman of the Executive Board of Abu Dhabi, is to make Abu Dhabi one of the five best governments in the world. The emirate has witnessed several developmental efforts and reform which have positively impacted various business environment determinants within government agencies regarding policies, legislations, infrastructure and human resources. The business environment in Abu Dhabi is among the top priorities of the 2030 Economic Vision, which aims to create an open and efficient environment that is more integrated with international business standards," he said.

H.E. underlined the interest of the UAE government to support the business environment and strengthen its position as an attractive destination for investment. He referred to the decree issued by His Highness, the President of the UAE, last August on the amendment of some provisions of the Commercial Companies Law, which abolishes the requirement of 'minimum capital required for starting a business'. The flexibility of this amendment is intended to promote entrepreneurship, innovation and development among the business community.

He assured the participants of the forum that the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development was keen to develop and implement tasks which will help attain the results of the 2030 economic vision for Abu Dhabi; such as playing an active role in achieving sustainable development in coordination with relevant governments for developing the business environment. This would speed up business activities registration through advanced methods (Online Registration), enabling businesses to choose a name for the facility and obtain an initial approval and license registration within a minimal time period.

In this context, H.E. highlighted a number of joint cooperation agreements signed by the Department, with more than 13 local and federal governments to develop and promote the business environment through the creation of a system which simplifies and facilitates the smooth flow of procedures necessary to obtain a business license in Abu Dhabi. The Department of Economic Development also intends to establish the Abu Dhabi Business Centre, which will provide various services such as, licensing and business information services, permits for business, besides business consulting services and all the necessary support.

In conclusion, HE Nasser Ahmed Al Suwaidi, expressed the Department's desire to provide an optimum environment in which businesses would be able to exploit their energies and resources to promote development. He requested all the participants especially within the Arab region to fulfill the objectives of the forum. He invited fruitful exchanges of experience and expertise between Arab and international experts.

The opening of the forum coincided with the release of the Doing Business 2010 in the Arab World report. A panel discussion followed on business registration reforms in MENA, including an overview and shared global experiences of good practices. The discussion was moderated by a representative of the World Bank Group and provided insights into the recent business registration reforms tracked by the Doing Business Report.

In 2008/2009, Doing Business reforms picked-up around the world, with at least 60% of economies reforming in every region. Governments in the Middle East and North Africa are now reforming at a rate similar to those in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Jordan were among the most active reformers.

In recent years, economies in the region have increasingly picked-up reform practices from one another. Between June 2008 and May 2009, 287 reforms were recorded in 131 economies, 20% more than the year before. Reformers focused on making it easier to: start and operate a business; strengthening of property rights; improving the efficiency of commercial dispute resolution; and bankruptcy procedures.

The Doing Business forum's workshops to be conducted across two days will highlight reforms in licensing procedures and company registration in Arab countries; as well as address the systems and procedures of bankruptcy. In addition, there will be an annual conference on the development of credit information systems and risk management in Arab countries.

The forum will present the Arab initiative, under which technical missions composed of experts from the Arab Monetary Fund and International Finance Corporation will provide assistance to four Arab countries in 2009. It will also explore mechanisms to develop this initiative and the continued progress in credit information systems in the Arab region; besides discussing ways to strengthen cooperation and coordination between the Arab countries concerned.

During the second day, there is a workshop on the Arab Credit Report Initiative, which will include speakers from the Arab Monetary Fund. Discussions will focus on the importance of sound credit information and the development of risk management and credit information systems in Arab countries, wherein participants will imbibe international experience and good practices in this area.

The two-day event has participation of experts and professionals representing Arab Central Banks, as well as a number of commercial banks and Arab credit information companies. They will confer with a group of specialists and experts from international institutions, along with a number of central banks in Africa, Europe and Latin America.

The Doing Business reports rank economies based on 10 indicators of business regulation that record the time and cost to meet government requirements in starting and operating a business, trading across borders, paying taxes, and closing a business. They provide a quantitative measure of regulations for starting a business, dealing with construction permits, employing workers, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and closing a business—as they apply to domestic small and medium-size enterprises.

The rankings do not reflect such areas as macroeconomic policy, security, labor skills of the population or the strength of the financial system or financial market regulations. Doing Business covers 183 economies—including small economies and some of the poorest countries, for which little or no data is available in other data sets.