Dubai World Trade Centre announces new measures to support businesses

In the wake of Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent cancellation of a number of high-profile events, the Dubai World Trade Centre Authority (DWTCA) announced an Extraordinary Measures Programme on April 22 to help affected businesses and tenants offset their financial burdens by agreeing to waive cancellation/rescheduling fees for all event organisers as well as offering tenants rent waivers, among several other incentives.

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, deputy Chairman of the board of DWTCA said that the programme supports the most vulnerable and deepest hit businesses covering key sectors associated with the DWTCA including the Meetings Incentives Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE), Free Zone (FZ), Retail and Commercial Real Estate.

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“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,” said Sheikh Ahmed.

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The authority said in a statement on its website that a few of the measures it announced as part of the package have already been activated and are designed to accelerate the return to normalcy and aid small scale businesses as well as core sectors across business tourism and events.

“The actions unveiled today are designed to significantly subsidise the cost of doing business within the DWTCA free zone complex for those most impacted – especially the smaller players and those in the MICE ecosystem, offering assistance to our clients, partners and suppliers,” added Helal Saeed Almarri, director general of the DWTCA.

Additionally, it would help businesses to better manage their fixed operating costs and liquidity at a time when a mandatory closure of all events remains in effect as part of the Covid-19 preventive and precautionary measures in place across the country.

MICE Business:
For organisers:
– No cancellation and/or rescheduling fees

– No penalties for late payments

– Allow carry forward of pre-paid fees as credit to 2021

For exhibitors (DWTC-owned exhibitions)
– Full refund on cancelled events and where new schedule is not feasible for participants

Retail Tenants:
Up to six-months rent-free on base rent [April-September 2020] for retail tenants in the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre and One Central, impacted by mandatory public lock-down restrictions – eg. Government enforced cancellations, and/ or temporary facility closures.

SMEs and Startup tenants:
Up to three-month [April-June 2020] base rent deferment for DWTCA commercial tenants

Free Zone Business [effective for three months spanning from April to June 2020]
– A 70 per cent rebate on annual fees for all category-specific business registrations and licenses [new and renewal]

– A 50 per cent rebate on annual fees for general trade licenses and registrations

– No administration fee on all visas (new, transfer and renewals)