Sheikh Hamdan reveals new $408Mn support package for Dubai

Dubai has revealed its third economic stimulus package worth $408 Million to ease the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on businesses.

Crown Prince and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum made the announcement of the package on his twitter page yesterday. The stimulus package aims to support small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and a number of strategic sectors maintain business continuity by reducing operational costs.

The crown prince remarked that the SME sector accounted for 99% of all companies operating in Dubai, 46% of its GDP and 51% of the emirate’s workforce.

Sheikh Hamdan added that the cumulative incentives provided now stood at $1.71 billion with earlier introductions of 1st stimulus package ($408 Million) on 12 March and 2nd stimulus package ($898 Million) on March 29th.

Under the directives of @HHShkMohd, we launched Dubai’s 3rd stimulus package worth AED1.5 billion, increasing the total worth of all packages to AED 6.3 billion. We aim to reinforce the liquidity of companies, support business continuity & reduce the cost of doing business. pic.twitter.com/05JEO1od9x

— Hamdan bin Mohammed (@HamdanMohammed) July 11, 2020

“Our economy is strong, has a stable foundation and has shown high resilience to crises, all of which enable us to effectively navigate any global challenge. We stand together with the private sector to overcome the impact of the pandemic. We are keen to help businesses renew their growth momentum as soon as possible.”

Hotel establishments and Restaurants

• ‘Tourism Dirham Fee’ has been halved until the end of the year.
• Establishments will be provided with a refund for 50% of the ‘7% municipality fees’ charged on sales from July to December 2020.

Customs

Fines on some customs cases will be reduced by 80% with provisions made for them to be paid in installments.

Construction 

• Financial dues to all contractors will be expedited
• All financial guarantees for construction activities related to commercial licenses will be refunded and will be replaced by another system that guarantees all the rights of the contracting parties.

Private Schools 

• Private schools will be exempted from commercial and educational license renewal fees until the end of the year.

Artworks

• The temporary entry permits obtained by art exhibitions for artworks loaned from institutions outside Dubai including the 4th quarter of 2019 will be extended until the end of 2020

Extension of some initiatives from the first package

The current stimulus package has also extended the validity of some of the initiatives announced in the first stimulus package for an additional three months until the end of September 2020 as part of support extended to the private sector is recovering from the crisis.