By With an annual economic growth rate of over 8%, Ras Al Khaimah is fast emerging as the destination of choice for businesses across industry spectrums. The emirate has a rich history of trade and export. Its strategic location provides businesses easy access to customers in Europe, Asia, Middle East and Africa – a combined market of over 2.5 billion. But the most important element contributing to the growth of business in the emirate is the RAKEZ (formerly RAKFTZ).With an annual economic growth rate of over 8%, Ras Al Khaimah is fast emerging as the destination of choice for businesses across industry spectrums. The emirate has a rich history of trade and export. Its strategic location provides businesses easy access to customers in Europe, Asia, Middle East and Africa – a combined market of over 2.5 billion. But the most important element contributing to the growth of business in the emirate is the RAKEZ (formerly RAKFTZ).
The free zone is part of a larger governing authority, Ras Al Khaimah Economic Zone (RAKEZ), which hosts a total of 13,000 companies spread across 50 industry verticals. It offers a highly cost-effective, business-friendly environment for both new and established businesses. In fact, fDi Magazine has recognized RAKEZ as one of the best free zones in the world for SMEs.
There are host of different factors that have contributed to this achievement. We explore a few below.
● Low Set Up Costs
Company formation in RAKEZ (formerly RAKFTZ) has remarkable economic advantages. In addition to benefits like 0% corporate and personal income taxes, 100% profit repatriation, and 100% business ownership, RAKEZ has significantly lower business costs when compared to other free zones. The free zone was recently awarded by fDi Magazine for its set-up cost reduction over the past year. During 2017, RAKEZ reduced the cost of business set by 10% and introduced a 12-month instalment option for its 3-year business plan.
● Support For All Kinds Of Businesses
With dedicated regions for nearly every kind of business – Business Park (corporate entities), Industrial Park (industrial and manufacturing), Technology Park (tech and light manufacturing) and Academic Zone (educational institutions) – RAKEZ is able to successfully serve the needs of any and all types of enterprises. The Economic Zone also offers a selection of tailored services to serve the various needs of modern businesses like business centre facilities, warehousing and others.
● Fast Track Processing
The government of Ras Al Khaimah has done a great job of cutting away the red tape from the process of setting up a business in the emirate. These include single window licensing, easy documentation, fast-track government approvals, visa approvals, banking facilities and much more. This has been a major factor in attracting businesses to RAK for company formation.
● Proximity To Dubai
In addition to the modern, fully-planned infrastructure that RAKEZ offers, its proximity to Dubai is also a major advantage. With facilities like Dubai International Airport and the Jebel Ali Seaport, Dubai has one of the strongest logistics networks and transport infrastructures in the world. Ras Al Khaimah is just 45 minutes away from Dubai by road.
Owing to these factors and many others, RAKEZ has emerged as a cost effective gateway for many small and medium enterprises from across the world to enter the GCC market. With Ras Al Khaimah FTZ, businesses can take advantage of the political stability, economic advantages, modern infrastructure and easy business set up that UAE has to offer, without heavy costs or long processes.
