ABU DHABI: The UAE has become a top global destination for businesses focusing on innovation, artificial intelligence, and entrepreneurship, as well as for attracting foreign investments, which led to an improvement in its rankings on international indicators related to business and investment attractiveness.

The country provides various incentives for investors, supports entrepreneurship, and encourages the establishment of more companies to help diversify national income sources.

By continuously enhancing its economic environment to attract foreign investments, the UAE aims to strengthen the role of investments in its national economy.

The Emirates News Agency (WAM) outlines 13 benefits and incentives extended to investors in the UAE, which have significantly boosted the country’s investment appeal, attracted substantial investments, and positioned it as a leading global investment hub.

15 minutes to start a business in the UAE

Basher, a digital platform for investors and entrepreneurs in the UAE and a
round the world, provides investors and entrepreneurs in the UAE and around the world with a complete range of government services to conduct their business in order to improve the ease of doing business and attract more investment to the UAE.

Basher is a completely new tool for setting up a business through an intelligent and unified digital platform that offers simple and secure procedures and allows investors and entrepreneurs to obtain a business licence without having to visit any government office.

100% ownership of companies

Following the promulgation of the Commercial Companies Law in 2020, investors of all nationalities will be able to fully establish and own companies in the UAE and all regions, and the presence of a UAE national agent will no longer be required for foreign companies wishing to open a branch and carry out their activities in the UAE.

40 free zones for setting up a business

The UAE offers more than 40 free zones, which allow foreign investors to own 100 per cent of their compani
es, and the country offers investors flexibility in choosing the appropriate free zone in which to establish their companies, and free zones are spread throughout the country and allow the practice of all economic activities.

2000 economic activities

Foreign investors in the UAE can invest in trade, industry, agriculture, services, education, health, construction and many others, and the available economic activities exceed 2000 economic activities, and the law excludes a very limited number of activities of strategic importance.

Legal Forms of Companies

Following the issuance of Federal Law No. (26) of 2020 on Commercial Companies, foreign investors are allowed to own all legal forms of commercial companies, such as ‘public joint stock companies, private joint stock companies, limited liability companies, simple recommendation companies, and solidarity companies.’

No requirement for a national agent

The UAE Commercial Companies Law does not require foreign companies wishing to open a branch and carry o
ut their activities in the UAE to have an agent who is a citizen of the country, which is an important advantage enjoyed by foreign companies and enhances the ease of doing business in the UAE and gives them more transparency.

Boards of Joint Stock Companies

The UAE Commercial Companies Law does not require that the chairman of the board of directors or the majority of the board members be UAE nationals, giving foreign investors the right to fully control their shares in companies, unless any decree or decision stipulates otherwise.

No minimum capital requirement

UAE law also directs investors to specify the capital in the articles of incorporation and articles of association. However, there is no minimum capital requirement for limited liability companies, making it easier for investors to set up companies and establish businesses, giving investors greater flexibility in planning their projects.

No income tax and full profit remittance

The UAE imposes no income tax on individuals. Individuals and inves
tors are free to fully repatriate their profits, and these incentives are advantages that investors in the UAE have historically enjoyed since the country’s free-market model has been followed since the country’s founding.

Golden residency for investors

The UAE applies a long-term residency visa system, for periods ranging from five to ten years, for investors, entrepreneurs, and talented individuals. This allows UAE residents and their families who wish to reside, work, live and study in the country to settle down, establish their businesses and enjoy a long stay.

Ease of contracting professional labour

The UAE is considered an incubator for competencies, skilled labour and human capital with talent in vital and important economic sectors, due to its flexible labour policies and ease of bringing in foreign labour. The UAE’s growing labour sector has made it possible to build a highly specialised cadre in various disciplines.

Low tariffs

Low tariffs have helped establish the UAE as a global center for t
rade, with government tariffs ranging from zero to 5 percent. As a result, the UAE is a global and regional leader in trade, ranking third in the world and first in the Arab world in re-exports.

Incentives for the industrial sector

The UAE offers a package of incentives to support investment and industrial and technological companies in key areas such as competitive financing solutions for priority industrial and advanced technology sectors, in partnership with the Emirates Development Bank, strategic and competitive tariffs for priority sectors in the industrial sector, customs exemption on investments and production inputs for the industrial sector, such as machinery and raw materials, the National Content Program, the “Make in the UAE” initiative to unify the identity of the local industry and other incentives offered by the UAE to the industrial sector.

Source: Emirates News Agency