by Andre Sanchez

The Jebel Ali Free Zone is a tax free haven for business that operates from Dubai without paying corporate or personal income taxes. There are other benefits, and the businesses enjoying the benefits of the Zone in effect operate as offshore concerns.

Run by the Jebel Ali Free Zone Authority (JAFZA), it allows foreign companies to use the area as a manufacturing or distribution base without having to conform to the restrictions that would normally apply to foreign companies operating in Dubai. Outside the area, foreign companies must form associations with other Emirate companies who have the right to own up to 51% of the foreign business, and take 51% of its profits. They may also be subject to import duties and pay corporate and income taxes. There is little incentive, therefore, to base an operation from these locations.

Inside the Free Zone business can operate under complete foreign ownership with all capital and profits repatriated to the owners country of registration. There are no currency restrictions and no corporate of individual income taxes payable, and warehouses or manufacturing plants are available, ready made. No minimum capital investment is required and full communications systems and support services are readily available. An incentive is provided by the Dubai government for foreign companies to operate from the Free Zone, while contributing to the Dubai economy through employment, lease and rental rates, and other benefits.

To register with the Jebel Ali Free Zone, a company must complete a two page form and fax it to the JAFZA in Dubai. Once the initial response is received, generally in approximately one week, there are several more forms to be completed including the applicant’s articles of incorporation into the Zone. The whole procedure can be completed, from the initial application to provision of the keys of the premises, within around two months.

The total success of the Zone is partially responsible for investment in the country and its rapid growth, and JAFRZA has expanded to investment in strategic locations in other areas such as Morocco, Djibouti and Malaysia. As early as 1966, when oil was first discovered in the country, Dubai’s late ruler Sheikh Rashid Bin Saeed Al Maktoum realized that oil alone could not be the basis of his country’s economy and stated that Dubai would be a free trading country. His vision has been vindicated.

The Dubai government has worked hard to make the Jebel Ali Free Zone the best of its kind, and welcomes any business that it deems advantageous to the local economy. If you need any help setting up in the Zone they will give you all the advice and information that you need, and the degree of assistance provided is designed to give you the assurance of complete reliability and competence in transforming what could be a complex procedure into something relatively simple.

The benefits of setting up your business in the Free Zone extend beyond the tax and other financial incentives. Not only is there a massive market available to you, but none of those in the Middle East is more than a day drive away. We are not talking about countries here, but major Middle East markets.

Located about 35 kilometres from Dubai city, the Free Zone is constructed around the biggest artificial port in the world covering 100 square kilometres with almost nine hundred companies. Most of these export goods through Dubai to other countries such as India and Iran, though there are no restrictions in this respect. No major ports are more than two days sailing and it takes only 20 days to Japan. If that sounds a lot, compare it to your regular shipper! Europe is only two weeks away by sea and South East Asia only nine days.

If you are an exporting company, and feel that a depot or even a manufacturing unit closer to one of your main customer basis would be of advantage to you, you can cut the ongoing costs of such a venture, and many of the capital costs, by contacting the JAFZA. You will find it easier than you thought.

The Jebel Ali Free Zone provides your business with a staging post between your home base and your customers without the normal financial penalties and constraints that such a benefit entails. Take advantage of it and you will not only keep your shareholders happy, but will be contributing to the success of a vision that not only deserves that success, but is achieving it.

The Jebel Ali Free Zone was originally published at http://www.globallifenow.com