UAE witnesses boom in new company setups

ECH Digital plans to enter business consulting and advisory services

Bhaskar Raj

DUBAI: The business setup landscape in the UAE is experiencing an overwhelming growth as thousands of investors are flocking to the country, drawn by conducive economic policies and diverse business opportunities.

Dubai alone saw the establishment of 45,653 new businesses in the first half of 2023 and the emirate continues to attract a steady influx of new businesses.

These business setups, licence and government permit issuances are facilitated by a new breed of business setup companies as most of the services are outsourced by the authorities.

Business setup service has become a booming business and hundreds of service providers have emerged, offering varied services like company setup, trade licence, visas and permit issuances.

Among them is ECH Digital, Dubai’s largest government service provider and business setup facilitator, which is a one-stop solution provider for all government-related services like visa application, labour permits, emigration and customs formalities.

ECH is instrumental in facilitating issuance of thousands of Golden Visas and licences to set up companies in the UAE mainland and the free zones.

ECH Digital, which has more than a million customers, is also instrumental in setting up of thousands of new businesses and start-ups in the UAE by facilitating licence and permit issuances by various authorities, free zones and related government departments. Of a total of 1,58,000 Golden Visas issued so far, ECH alone accounts for issuance of more than 34,000 Golden Visas to investors, professionals, celebrities, entrepreneurs, artistes, top film stars, sports persons, humanitarian pioneers and student achievers.

“It is our humble contribution to the local economy by attracting more investors, professionals and High Net Worth Individuals (HNWIs). A recent report said more than 6,700 millionaires will relocate to the UAE this year, putting the UAE at the top of all the countries in attracting the highest number of HNWIs,” he said. The UAE Golden Visa offers a range of advantages designed to attract and retain investors, talent and specialised professionals. The visa holders can have 100% ownership of their businesses in the UAE, without the need for a local sponsor. The 10-year visa is also issued to property investors, celebrities, highly qualified professionals like doctors, scientists and high scoring expat students.

“Hundreds of startups have come up with our help as we facilitated entrepreneurs and investors to set up businesses faster and at affordable cost. We are happy to note that most of them are doing extremely well,” said Iqbal Marconi, founder and CEO of ECH Digital.

“The UAE’s business-friendly environment and a booming economy are offering great growth opportunities to local companies. Thousands of start-up ventures have come up and started businesses, and many are doing extremely well. However, it is noticed that many of the companies have not fully exploited the market opportunities to grow,” said Iqbal, a technocrat, management expert and a former merchant navy officer.

“There is a felt need for hand-holding and helping companies achieve further growth by exploiting their full potential and grab the opportunities available here.”

“We have seen how companies grew globally with the help of major consulting and accounting firms such as PwC, KPMG, EY and Deloitte, and medium sized consulting companies,” Iqbal said.

 “That’s why we are embarking on a major expansion of activities into business consulting and advisory services by setting up a division in ECH Digital, to be managed by highly experienced experts in the consulting field,” he said. ECH Digital was founded from the felt need for speedy and reliable services for setting up businesses, availing government services such as trade licences, permits, visas, bank facilities, collaborations and business expansion.

“We came out with an offer to get trade licences and visas for as low as AED6,000 when the prevailing rate was more than AED10,000. It used to take more than 20 days for getting trade licences and permits.  We facilitated faster issuance of permits and licences.”

ECH made use of the government’s initiative for digital submission of documents for delivering faster services.

ECH Digital is strategizing to expand and broadbase its activities by taking advantage of the new trend by governments to outsource their services to private operators. “Many governments are outsourcing services, including visa processing and immigration application scrutiny. We want to become a major player in this segment by leveraging our experience and expertise.  We plan to be listed as service provider for other governments.

“We find an opportunity here to provide these services with the experience and reputation we gained over the years. We have the capability to follow the protocol and norms,” he said.

ECH Digital provides professional service through more than 150 staff, fluent in 30 languages.

Iqbal is also the founder of WaterScience in India, which produces shower and tap filters for bathrooms, kitchen tap filters, hard-water filters for home appliances, water softeners, water-saving products, and home cleaning solutions for hard-water stain removal.

The ECH Group is also a provider of travel service solutions thorough Equator Travel Management, an IATA-accredited travel agency.

The travel scenario is fast changing and borders are vanishing. For example, the GCC common tourist visa, a Schengen-style visa, will be launched next year that will facilitate travel to all the GCC countries on a single visa.