Abu Dhabi's Department of Economic Development has extended by one more year the period during which entrepreneurs can run their businesses without renting a physical office, under the emirate's Tajer licensing programme launched in 2017.
The scheme, designed to lower start-up costs for home-based and small businesses, has grown sharply since its launch. The list of eligible business activities has expanded from just 30 at the outset to more than 1,200 today. New Tajer licence issuance rose 8 per cent in the first half of this year compared with the same period last year, following a nearly 25 per cent jump across all of last year. More than 7,800 commercial and industrial establishments have also benefited from fine exemptions under the programme.
Alongside the office-free extension, authorities lengthened validity periods for Rowad industrial licences: pre-construction grace periods rose from two to three years, and the window for projects already under construction was extended from three to four years.
Hamad Al Mazrouei, under-secretary at Abu Dhabi's Department of Economic Development, said the measures reflect the emirate's continued commitment to entrepreneurship as a pillar of its innovation-driven economy.
The extension builds on years of Abu Dhabi policy aimed at easing the financial burden on small and home-based businesses, giving individual entrepreneurs a lower-cost route into the market at a time when new business registrations continue to climb across the emirate.