NAFL Directory 14-02-2018 LR

Free Zone
NAFL-Yearbook 2018
100% foreign ownership at free zones
Across the seven emirates of the
UAE—Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah,
Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah, Umm Al
Quwain and Ajman—are designated
free trade zones allowing 100
percent foreign ownership of
companies.
Collectively, the UAE has more than
45 free zones, the highest in the
region and accounting for about 25
percent of all free zones in the Arab
world.
Fr e e z o n e s h a v e t h e i r o w n
regulations, including special tax,
customs and import duties, and may
be broadly categorized as seaport,
airport and mainland trading areas.
Primarily, they offer the following
exemptions:
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Ÿ
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Ÿ
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100% foreign ownership of the
enterprise
100% import and export tax
exemptions
100% repatriation of capital and
profits
Corporate tax exemptions for up
to 50 years
No personal income taxes
A s s i s t a n c e w i t h l a b o r
recruitment and additional
support services, such as
sponsorship and housing
Each free zone has one or more
business industry categories
whereby investors can register their
companies and be issued operating
licenses by the independent Free
Zone Authority (FZA) concerned.
Dubai
Dubai has the most number of free
zones at 24 contributing as much as
33 percent to the emirate's GDP,
according to the UAE government.
More than 30,000 companies with
about 330,000 employees work in
Dubai's free zones.
Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza)-The
flagship free zone subsidiary of
global trade enabler DP World
recently opened the “Jafza Bridge”
for traffic, linking Jafza North and
Jafza South across Sheikh Zayed
Road further enhancing the efficacy
of the Dubai Logistics Corridor which
links the port, free zone and airport
under a unified customs bond,
creating one of the most efficient sea
– air logistics link in the world.
Jafza offers a customized platform
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