What Makes Free Zones an Attractive Option of Business Setup in UAE?
The free zones of UAE (also known as free trade zones) are essentially those economic areas where goods & services can be traded, typically at preferential tax & customs rates. They were originally rolled out to boost the international business in the region by offering benefits such as 100% ownership to the foreign company. Currently, there are 45 free zones all across the UAE.
Over the years, the free zones of UAE have evolved to offer the ever-increasing advantages to the businesses within them. There are many free zones which cater to the specific industries or business types.
Read on to understand why Freezone business setup UAE is considered an attractive option.
Why set Up a Business in a Free zone?
If you’re planning to set up a company in the UAE, there are plenty of reasons to opt for a free zone.
Easy Setup
The setup process in most of the free zones in the UAE is incredibly straightforward. However, the exact application process will depend upon your business activity and the chosen free zone, but in many cases, you only have to provide some basic documentation like passport copies and business paperwork. The whole process usually takes just a week or two. Additionally, many free zones also offer Flexi-desk and virtual packages that enable you to make use of the free zone address & facilities on an ad-hoc basis.
Tax & Duty
The tax regime is perhaps one of the most compelling reasons to opt for a Freezone business setup UAE. By setting up a business in a free zone, along with benefiting from 0% corporate and personal tax, your business will also be exempted from VAT. And that’s not all. Free zone businesses are also exempted from import and export tax and can trade with no currency restrictions.
Foreign Ownership
Another major advantage of setting up a business in a free zone is foreign company ownership. Most entrepreneurs from overseas who want to set up a company in the UAE mainland need to work with a local partner to do business. Though this is not the case in the free zones of UAE, when you opt for Freezone business setup UAE, you get to retain 100% ownership.
Privacy Protection
Finally, free zones in UAE are particularly popular with privacy-conscious entrepreneurs as there’s no open directory of company ownership and business information like details of the shareholder are never disclosed to the public.








