ABU DHABI—This capital city of the United Arab Emirates is bent on stimulating the construction sector in a bid to boost and sustain its economy.
The Abu Dhabi Executive Council has announced that it had approved plans to establish a one-stop shop meant to speed up the issuance of construction permits at the Municipal Affairs and the Transport Authority.
The council said the move will specifically speed up the “planning process” in Abu Dhabi. This looks very much like the one-stop shop created by the Duterte administration for developers to secure the necessary permits for their business in the Philippines at quickest time possible, and for overseas Filipino workers to fix their papers and documents for travel abroad.
Property developers in Abu Dhabi have welcomed the news that the emirate’s Executive Council is planning to set up a one-stop shop for construction permits.
The developers confess that under the current system, each submission can take about 30 days for the municipality to review their application.
This is because officials have to seek approvals from as many as eight or nine other city authorities, including Abu Dhabi Distribution Company, the Department of Transport and Etisalat (as in the case of telecommunications projects).
The move became necessary in line with the city’s new property law published at the end of last year which developers are required to hold a valid construction permit before they are allowed to launch property sales.
“Although we are still unsure of the details, it looks like this new one-stop shop will be tremendously beneficial,” said Sameh Muhtadi, the chief executive at Abu Dhabi property developer Bloom Holding.