RAK Chamber-Registered Businesses Increase to 32,801 in H1 2017

A total of 32,801 businesses became members of the Ras al-Khaimah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, RAK Chamber, and 10,093 renewed their membership by the end of the first half (H1) of the current year.

The number of new private members registered during the period reached 970, out of which 130 were in free zones along with 54 new branches for establishments inside and outside the emirate.

Dr. Ahmed Rashid Al Shemaili, Assistant General Manager of Commercial Services and Business Development at RAK Chamber, said that the results reflect the vision to facilitate businessmen and investors, as well as enhance the emirate's position in providing a supportive environment for economic growth, which showed continued development across various sectors.

Raja Mohammed Bin Jumaa, Head of Economic Studies at the Chamber, said that the total number of businesses across the sectors is usually higher than the number of registered establishments as some entities practise multiple activities.

The establishments are categorised into 15 different sectors according to the standard international economic classification.

The lion’s share went to the trade and repair services sector, which accounted for 44 percent of Chamber-registered establishments in the first half of this year, with a total of 21,227 companies.

The construction sector came second in terms of the number of licences with 9,153 (19 percent) organisations, followed by the manufacturing sector in third place with a total of 5,778 companies (12 percent).

The real estate, leasing and business services sector came fourth with 3,754 businesses (7.8 percent), followed by the social and personal works sector with 2,771 (5.8 percent), the hotel and restaurant sector with 2,489 (5.2 percent), and the transport, storage and communications sector with 1,925 (4 percent) businesses.

All registered establishments with RAK Chamber before the end of the first half of this year were categorised according to the classification of membership, determined by their capital. 2,919 (8.9 percent) of them were listed in the special class, 1,295 (3.9 percent) in the premium class, 3,558 (10.8 percent) in the first class and 12,364 (37.7 percent) in the second class, which accounted for the largest proportion of new establishments. The third class accounted for 11,324 (34.5 percent) with 1,341 (4.1 percent) in the fourth class.

Registered establishments were also distributed across different areas of the emirate.

The most popular area was Al Nakheel with 7,171 establishments or 21.9 percent of all those registered.

This was followed by the Ras al-Khaimah area with 4,589 establishments (14 percent) followed by Al Jazirah Al Hamra with 2,285 (7 percent), Qusaidat with 1,849 (5.6 percent), Maareed with 1,575, Julphar with 1,562, Mamourah with 1,300, Al Rams with 1,227, Al Diqdaqah with 872, Al Kharan with 855, Al Dahan with 786, and Al Ghail with 749.

The estimated size of the labour force during the first half of this year was 2,725 and estimated and planned capital in the new investments amounted to about AED534 million in the same period.

The number of certificates of origin issued by the Chamber during the first six months of the current year amounted to 15,737, with the highest number of certificates of origin being issued in May at 2,954.

The total exports of RAK Chamber members reached AED3.59 billion during H1, 2017.