Dubai’s AED 1 bn stimulus package, which aims to help the private sector navigate ongoing headwinds, will play a role in boosting confidence across the market, whether for local players or foreign investors, pundits say.

A quick recap: The package includes deferring government fees for businesses, as well as sales fees for hotels, and extending customs payments deadlines from 30 to 90 days. Some sectors, including the arts, will also see customs duties waived entirely for imports. For individuals, a “streamlined” residency and visa process should help continue to attract and retain talent, though details on that have not been clarified.

The move is a “clear signal of policy discipline in uncertain times,” SunTec Business Solutions’ President Amit Dua said in a note seen by EnterpriseAM UAE. It helps prioritize liquidity, continuity, and business confidence, and protects momentum, he added.

Discipline + stability are key: The package “reinforces confidence in the market’s stability and long-term potential,” Saxo Bank’s head of MENA trading, Hamza Dweik, said in a statement seen by EnterpriseAM UAE. It also helps reinforce resilience across the private sector, Chief Investment Officer at Century Financial Vijay Valecha agreed.

It was largely expected: UAE authorities have been engaging with the business community since the start of the conflict, organizing a session with dozens of Dubai businesses earlier in March to discuss ongoing events and maintaining business continuity. Judging by past crises like covid-19, many were expecting a government response that would ensure continuity and maybe even “convert [the] crisis into an [opening], as Viswanathan Shankar, a former top executive at Standard Chartered and founder of Gateway Partners, told Bloomberg earlier in the conflict.

Business was on a roll before this happened: The non-oil private sector was thriving in February on the back of strong domestic demand and significant activity in the construction, real estate, logistics, and tech sectors. S&P Global’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) had reached a one-year high of 55 last month. We’re still waiting on how the picture has changed for March — the PMI should be out on Friday.

Momentum might get hit, but the announcement helps ensure that disruption doesn’t last too long. Dweik sees the stimulus package being a “catalyst for momentum across multiple sectors.”

The breadth of the package is also notable: It doesn’t just focus on tourism or the arts. The government fee and customs payment deferral will help all sectors, a signal of the city’s “focus on inclusivity,” Dweik noted.

Wealth managers think the effects will ripple across to HNWIs as well: “Empowering the private sector will undoubtedly encourage even more ultra-high-net-worth families, entrepreneurs, and family offices to put down permanent roots and build multi-generational wealth in the Emirates,” Klay Group Chairman Kalpesh Khakhria also said in a note seen by EnterpriseAM.

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