• Department also placed as best in Arab World for property registration by World Bank’s 2013 Doing Business Index
• Department moves up eight rankings in twelve months
The Dubai Land Department (LD) has been ranked by the 2013 Doing Business Index as being the fourth best in the world for ease of real estate and property registration. The index, which is published annually by the World Bank, also placed LD as being the best in the Arab world for its services.
The fourth-place ranking marks a significant achievement for LD, as twelve months ago the organisation was placed at number 12 globally by the same index. Sultan Butti Bin Mejren, Director General of LD expressed his delight with the new report’s finding, stating that it heralded a paradigm shift for the department’s operations and would have the effect of supporting attitudes about upgrading its services.
“The Land Department has moved up eight rankings globally over the past 12 months in the Doing Business Index as a result of its hard work during the past few years to ensure customer satisfaction,” said Bin Mejren. “Its significant achievements relate to customers being able to quickly and easily complete property transactions through the framework of excellence and professionalism that is characterised by all of the Land Department’s staff. This ranking will greatly influence our operations moving forward,” he added.
Over the past few years, LD has focused on expanding its services, simplifying transactions, and moving towards customer-centric on-line activities. It also recently opened a dispute resolution centre to help speedily resolve real estate issues. One significant improvement it has introduced is a unified mechanism of action which enables a transaction to be completed within 30 minutes or less – a feature that led to its high placement on the index.
Bin Mejren was keen to say how the classification was consistent with the directions of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, to raise the level of competitiveness in the emirate in general and to elevate Dubai to the status of being the most attractive city in which to conduct real estate business.
“The index results are in accord with the directive of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, to improve completion in the emirate and thereby raise standards. It is a core component of the Department’s vision to create the best real estate environment in the world for attracting investment,” Bin Mejren said.
Bin Mejren concluded that in the wake of the report being published, LD had formed a competitiveness team specifically with the aim of getting to the global first place position for ease of property registration of on the Doing Business Index.
“Jumping eight places in the global rankings for this important World Bank business listing in just twelve months is a phenomenal achievement and is a testament to all the commitment and dedication of the Land Department’s staff,” said Bin Mejren. “I can confirm that we have appointed a special team with the remit of getting the department to the first place position in the next few years,” he added.