The Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah is located in the northern part of the United Arab Emirates. It takes less than an hour to get there from Dubai international airport by car. The Emirate has a strategic geographical location, as it gives easy access to the rapidly growing markets of the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and South Asia. Ras Al Khaimah (often abbreviated to RAK) is one of the strongest Emirates as far as its economy is concerned. The Emirate offers a friendly business environment and it has been highly popular with foreign investors. Probably one of the most attractive advantages that Ras Al Khaimah offers is a comparatively low cost of maintaining a business company domiciled there.
Main benefits to be found in Ras Al Khaimah
- The Emirate has five large seaports and an international airport.
- It has a diversified economy.
- More than a quarter of the GDP is generated by the manufacturing industry in Ras Al Khaimah.
- Qualified personnel are readily available in the Emirate.
- It gives easy access to the raw material supply chain.
RAKEZ Free Economic Zone in Ras Al Khaimah
The Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah has a Free Economic Zone (FEZ), which is a specially designated area where business companies find substantial privileges. It sits in the center of Ras Al Khaimah and its name is RAKEZ. It is made up of two FEZs that the Emirate used to have before: Ras Al Khaimah Free Trade Zone and RAK Investment Authority.
The administrative authorities of RAKEZ have been living up to their promise to extend the opportunities for foreign investors. It is truly a world-class FEZ that offers a wide range of services to entrepreneurs. The business infrastructure is superb in RAKEZ.
You can register an onshore or an offshore company in the FEZ. If you choose the first option, you will find the following advantages:
- Zero taxation.
- The company can be fully owned by a foreigner (no need to involve a local sponsor/ partner).
- There are no restrictions as to profit withdrawal.
- No customs duties to pay when importing goods to the FEZ and exporting goods outside the UAE.
- You will find a wide choice of business infrastructure objects and various manufacturing facilities in RAKEZ.
- You will gain access to large logistic centers and multilane highways.
- You can use the facilities of Saqr seaport that is the largest container port in the Middle East and North Africa region.
- Dubai international airport as well as Ras Al Khaimah international airport are in close proximity.
- You can choose the form of ownership that your company is going to have.
- Qualified workforce is available. Many foreign workers for hire.
- If you register an onshore company in RAKEZ, you will be able to get a resident visa in the UAE.
Please note that companies registered in any of the 40+ Free Economic Zones in the UAE are not allowed to do any business with UAE partners. All your business operations will have to be conducted inside the FEZ or you can trade with foreign partners.
In addition, it is possible to register an offshore company in the UAE in some of the FEZs including RAKEZ. It can be a limited liability company or an unlimited liability company. You can also re-domicile your offshore company to Ras Al Khaimah from another jurisdiction. Establishment of an offshore company in RAKEZ will not make you eligible for a resident visa even though the taxes are the same: zero percent.
RAKEZ divisions
RAKEZ is divided into several subzones. Each subzone is designed to meet the needs of companies working in different spheres of business. Depending on the area of your business operations, you can find different sets of advantages in each subzone.
First, there are three industrial subzones in RAKEZ: Al Hulaila Industrial Zone, Al Hamra Industrial Zone, and Al Ghail Industrial Zone. All the three industrial zones have some characteristics that they share while each zone offers certain unique advantages not to be found in other zones. The shared advantages include the following ones:
- Land plots of different sizes;
- Access to multilane highways;
- Housing opportunities for company personnel;
- All modern utilities including various means of communication;
- An opportunity to build your own houses and other types of constructions.
- Availability of warehouses (their areas are normally between 200 and 400 square meters).
- An opportunity to register companies of various types and forms of ownership.
However, each industrial zone within RAKEZ boasts some unique properties. Al Hulaila Industrial Zone sits very close to Saqr seaport. Al Hamra Industrial Zone is close to the city center as well as Dubai and Ras Al Khaimah international airports. Al Ghail Industrial Zone is only 10 minutes away from Al Jazeera port and it is perfect for large-scale industrial projects (it is the largest industrial zone of all subzones in RAKEZ: its area is almost 29 million square meters).
Besides the industrial zones, there are two more subzones in RAKEZ, namely, RAKEZ Business Zone and RAKEZ Academic Zone.
The Business Zone has the following main properties:
- It is specially designed for startups, small- and medium-size businesses.
- It is perfect for commercial, service, and consulting business.
- Share office space and shared job stations are available.
- The office space can be adjusted to your needs and your office can be virtually of any size.
- You can rent a furnished or an unfurnished office.
- High-speed Internet connection is available.
- The subzone is open for access 24/7. At the same time, the area is under round-the-clock security surveillance.
- The telecommunication and IT infrastructure is superb.
- You can use the business center and secretary services in the Business Zone.
- Additional services are provided on the one-stop basis.
As far as the Academic Zone is concerned, you can find the following properties there:
- The zone is designed for education service providers.
- There you can find professional support in administering your educational company.
- You can obtain one (or more) of the five types of educational licenses in the Academic Zones: a license for primary and secondary education, higher education, non-academic services, educational consulting, and training services.
- You can find economically efficient solutions for promoting your educational services.
- Offices ideally designed for education service providers.
- You will find a number of already existing consulting and educational institutions in the Zone.
- You can rent a whole building for carrying out your educational project.
- You can build your own school or university in the Academic Zone, as land plots are available for this purpose there.
All in all, RAKEZ Free Economic Zone in Ras Al Khaimah offers highly attractive opportunities to international entrepreneurs.
