UAE Free Zones Offer Covid-19 Economic Stimulus

Known for its business-friendly policies and advanced infrastructure facilities, the UAE continues to attract foreign investment to the country amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier this month, the Dubai Free Zone Council announced an economic stimulus package to reduce business costs and improve financial liquidity of free zone companies. The package included exemption from Tawtheeq fees, waiving commercial and industrial forfeits, exempting commercial vehicles from annual registration fees (till the end of 2020), exempting all vehicles from road tolls (till the end of 2020), suspending tourism and municipality fees for tourism and entertainment sectors and offering up to 20% discount on rental values for restaurants, tourism and entertainment sectors.

In coordination with the Dubai Free Zone Council, several free zone jurisdictions have now contributed to this economic stimulus package. I’ve decided to put down some of the attractive packages that are currently offered by three free zones: International Free Zone Authority (IFZA), Creative City Fujairah Free Zone (CCFZ) and Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC).

Let me start with IFZA, which has gained recognition for its hassle-free process of registering a license and, more importantly, for being client-centric. This free zone is based in Fujairah and offers cost-effective setup cost along with inexpensive office rent. In order to help investors during these critical times, the following promotion has been made available by the free zone authority:

• Huge cost reduction on the 1 visa license package.
• Waived E-channel deposit.
• Waived license cancellation fee.

Moving on to CCFZ, which is one of the free zones that offer an exceptional combination of two types of licenses, we’ll look at what’s currently being offered.

• 25% discount for a license that is valid for one year. This is applicable to all the packages that are available.
• Total 3 business activities on one license.
• One visa will be offered for free for the following packages – Freelancer Company, Baby Business and GENIUS.
• Waived E-Channel deposit (worth AED 5,000).

Finally, let’s have a look at some of the enticing measures that DMCC has enforced for new registrations and businesses that have already begun the setup process. If not stated otherwise, these measures will be effective from April 01, 2020 till June 30, 2020.

• 80 percent reduction on the total company set up fee if the shareholders are residents of JLT.
• Up to 50 percent reduction on the total company set up fee along with a flexi desk for one year.
• Flexible payment options for new DMCC business center tenants.
• Complete digital process for business set up.

For more information, feel free to contact me today. I’ll be happy to recommend the most suitable jurisdiction for your business.