News

Abu Dhabi Has Dropped Business Setup Fees By Up To 94%

Thanks to the new initiative, setting up a new business in Abu Dhabi will cost you as little as 1,000 AED.

Published

5 years ago

August 6, 2021

Joanna Melki

abu dhabi has dropped business setup fees by up to 94 percent

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Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development and other government entities are determined to make the capital of the United Arab Emirates even more attractive to entrepreneurs because they’ve decided to lower business setup fees by up to 94 percent.

“We hope this significant change in fee structure helps to further ease the set-up process for new and existing investors,” explains Mohammed Al Shorafa, chairman of Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development. “Our goal for Abu Dhabi, as part of our new economic strategy, is to create a thriving business environment that encourages growth and innovation. Ease of starting and managing a business is a key lever, and we strongly believe the restructuring of fees will help us achieve this goal.”

The new business setup fees amount to just 1,000 AED ($273 USD), and they came to effect on July 27, 2021, covering all fees from Abu Dhabi government entities such as Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development, the Department of Municipalities and Transport, membership fees for Abu Dhabi Chamber, CoC (Certificate of Conformity) issuance fee, and others.

This isn’t the first move Abu Dhabi have made in order to attract more entrepreneurship. In the past, the city has provided everything from rent rebates and discounts on utility bills to loan guarantee packages. Combined, all these business growth measures create an environment that’s especially favorable to tech entrepreneurs, who often compete with large enterprises with minimal financial resources. The less fees and other expenses they have to worry about, the more money they can dedicate to developing a great product and making it available to customers.

Also Read: How To Start An Online Business In Dubai (2023 Guide)

Abu Dhabi expects its economy to grow as much as 8 percent during the next two years as it recovers from the pandemic. The growth is expected to be driven mainly by government spending, foreign direct investment, the oil sector, and financial services.

Related Topics:Abu Dhabi United Arab Emirates

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Microsoft Plans $10 Billion-Plus Gulf Expansion Despite Iran Conflict

Security is shaping Microsoft’s approach, from resilience work with governments to what it will say about how the money splits by country.

Published

4 days ago

September 24, 2026

Nour Nasir

Microsoft

Microsoft is planning more than $10 billion of investment across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait through 2030, Vice Chair and President Brad Smith told Reuters, calling the spending schedule aggressive. The Iranian conflict that began on February 28 has not persuaded the company to scale back.

“We’re sustaining all the investments we planned to make before this conflict started, and we are in fact adding to them,” Smith said. The $10 billion-plus total does not, however, show how large those additions are.

The investment, which Smith described as part of Microsoft’s continued infrastructure expansion, is aimed at cloud and AI infrastructure and at the company’s growing regional operations. Microsoft also intends to put more than $400 million into subsea and terrestrial connectivity across the Middle East by 2030.

The spending fits the region’s own ambitions too. Gulf governments have been investing heavily in AI infrastructure as part of a push to diversify their economies beyond oil and gas and turn themselves into global technology hubs. Major cloud and AI providers have been drawn in part by the land and relatively low-cost energy on offer.

Microsoft is widening its partnerships with regional AI companies, though not on identical terms. In 2024, it invested $1.5 billion in Abu Dhabi-based G42 for a minority stake, and Smith currently sits on G42’s board. Saudi Arabia’s Humain and Qatar’s Qai are working with Microsoft on selected priority areas, but Smith said the company does not plan to make capital investments in either.

Also Read: Egypt’s Mobile Wallets Are Booming, But Cash Still Has Power

The conflict has added another strand to Microsoft’s work in the region. Since it began, Smith said, the company has supported regional partners with digital resilience assessments, and it is now working with Gulf countries through a digital resilience initiative focused on preparedness and the protection of critical data.

So far, the company has given no country-by-country breakdown of the investment, citing security among other factors. So while the headline figure is public, how Microsoft divides the spending among the four countries is not.