Dubai World Trade Centre Authority unveils measures to support businesses

The entire world is united and fighting together a pandemic that has disrupted lives and locked us inside our homes. The governments of all countries are announcing relief packages to support their citizens and economy; and UAE is no exception.

UAE is on a mission to combat the crisis and help its citizens face the situation and also ensure business continuity. Several relief packages and initiatives have been announced by UAE government in the last couple of weeks. To add to these, the Dubai World Trade Centre Authority (DWTCA) has unveils a series of measures to help businesses within its ecosystem.

According to Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Deputy Chairman of the Board of DWTCA, “Dubai’s economy is built for resilience in scenarios of extreme global volatility and unprecedented uncertainty. DWTCA has been working actively with all stakeholders over the past weeks to support sectoral needs, and these latest measures are an enablement of broader financial relief to enable business continuity, and operational sustainability for entities housed within the FZ complex”.

The measures aim to subsidize the cost of doing business within the DWTCA free zone complex, specifically for small companies and the ones in Meetings Incentives Conferences and Exhibitions [MICE] ecosystem. Some of the measures implemented by Dubai DWTCA include;

MCE BUSINESS:

1. For organizers
   Zero cancellation and/or rescheduling fees;
   No penalties for late payments;
   Can carry forward prepaid fees as credit to next year
2. For exhibitors (DWTC-owned exhibitions)
   Complete refund on cancelled events and where new schedule is not possible for participants

RETAIL TENANTS

Up to 6-month rent-free on base rent till September 2020 for retail tenants in the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre and One Central, impacted by lockdown.

SMEs and START-UP TENANTS:
Up to 3-month base rent deferment for DWTCA commercial tenants, till June 2020.

FREE ZONE BUSINESSES [effective for 3 months] 

1. 70% rebate on annual fees for all category-specific business registrations and licenses.
2. 50% rebate on annual fees for general trade licenses and registrations.
3. 0% administration fee on all visas — new, transfer and renewals.

It will take a while to get back to our normal lives. With the constant support from the government, the after effects of the pandemic can be lessened, without putting people under more pressure.