Abu Dhabi’s Department of Economic Development (ADDED) has unveiled a new wave of investor-journey reforms that aim to make the emirate the fastest place in the world to go from making an investment decision to actually doing business. Speaking to the Emirates News Agency on 14 October 2026, ADDED chairman Ahmed Jasim Al Zaabi said the focus has shifted from counting how many licences are issued to measuring how quickly a company can launch operations once it decides to enter the market. The next phase therefore targets all the mobility-critical touch-points that sit between licence approval and day-one trading: entry permits for expatriate staff, premises fit-outs, utility connections, banking, insurance and—crucially—customs. Much of the heavy lifting will be digital. Figures released with the statement show that 89 % of import declarations were cleared through Abu Dhabi Customs’ **pre-arrival clearance** channel in the first half of 2026, up from 47 % in 2023. Direct system-to-system integration between brokers, ports and border-control systems grew 23.5 % year-on-year, slashing the need for travellers and logistics operators to hand over physical documents on arrival. The reforms build on the **TAMM Investor Journey** platform, launched in 2021, which already lets businesses secure multiple government approvals in one digital workflow. On 29 September a new Government Asset Investment service was added, offering standardised bid templates for leasing state-owned land or facilities—a process that previously required multiple in-person meetings. For global-mobility managers the message is clear: Abu Dhabi plans to compete not only on tax and lifestyle but on **border friction**. Faster customs and one-stop digital approvals mean expatriate project teams—and their equipment—can get on the ground sooner, reducing set-up costs for multinational expansions and project-based assignments.
