Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) Free Zone | RAKEZ Company Formation

• RAK FTZ is one of the world’s most cost-effective free zones. Land and cost of living in Ras AL Khaimah is also very inexpensive
• 100% foreign ownership, free from taxes (including VAT), no restrictions on foreign exchange transactions and other free zone facilities
• Flexible and transparent laws and regulations for businesses in RAK FTZ
• Vital location for logistics and warehousing for both the UAE and the GCC markets
• Geostrategic location with access to over 1.2 billion consumers
• RAK FTZ Industrial Park and Technology Park are nearby to a seaport and international airport

RAK Company Formation Steps:

The step by step guide for company registration in Rakez is as follows:

Choose A Business Activity

The first thing required is to determine the business activity of your company. There are three economic activities, commercial, professional and industrial, amongst which it is asked of you to choose an activity. General, industrial or retail businesses are involved in trading or selling goods to other businesses or end consumers. You can either opt for a professional business that offers commercial or personal services like accounting, consulting, management, etc. Whereas, Industrial companies are usually involved in the manufacturing, processing, and packaging of products.

• Commercial activities which include trading businesses
• Educational activities which include educational consultancy or educational related businesses
• E-commerce activities which include online trading businesses through electronic means
• General trading businesses which include businesses conducting trading in a range of goods
• Industrial activities which include product importing, manufacturing, exporting and packaging business
• Media activities which include business related to the media industry
• Professional activities which include businesses providing professional services
• Activities related to conducting consultancies or services in any industry
• Freelancer activities which include sole businesses in the fields of education and media

Decide On The Business’s Legal Form

What comes next is deciding the corporate entity. Amongst the list mentioned above, you can choose one complimenting your business activities. Once the type and nature of the business are decided, the legal status conditions can be chosen as well.

Determine The Name Of The Business

The step that comes after determining the legal form of the business is determining the name of the business. It is important to make sure that the name of the businesses chosen should match the rules and regulations defined by the free zone authority. Any blasphemous or offensive language or any reference to any religion in the name of the company being established will not be permitted by the free zone authority. As well as including the name of the owner or founder of the company must be included in full rather than just the initial of the name of a surname, which is not permitted. Once the chosen business name passes the stage of obligation, it must be checked with the authorities if the determined name is still available or is already registered.

Acquire A Business License

Once approval from the regarding authorities is obtained, a stakeholder in the business can proceed to fulfill all the requirements of acquiring a business license. Approval from the Department of Economic Development shall be obtained before receiving a business license that permits conducting all business activities mentioned in the license.

Apply For A Visa

Another requirement of setting up a business in Rakez is to acquire a visa. As already mentioned, the process of applying and acquiring a visa is best taken with the help of an expert who specializes in business formation and acquiring visas and licenses. The process of applying for a visa in Rakez is stated down below:

• Apply for acquiring an Establishment Card
• When the Establishment Card is obtained, apply for eChannel
• After applying for eChannel, it is required to apply for an entry permit
• When the entry permit is issued, it is required to conclude the mandatory medical test and the application of Emirates ID
• What follows after is stamping of the residency permit in the passport

Rent An Office Space

The final but surely not the least step, renting a physical office space to operate business activities from. A business owner or a stakeholder in the business should only decide an office space and rent it out once they have visited the Monitoring and Consumer Protection Administration in the Department of Economic Development (DED). Other than this, the business owner shall also be required to pay a visit to other concerned authorities in order to fully examine and approve the business location. Some business licenses require a physical office space to be granted and conduct business activities.

Ras Al Khaimah Free Trade Zone Parks

Ras Al Khaimah Free Trade Zone operates in four specialized free zone parks to fulfill the requirements of small medium and large businesses.

1. Business Park has fully furnished and functional office, desks and flexi offices (shared offices and desks) available at cost effective rates. This business park is suitable for clients with developed business centers
2. Industrial Park is developed for warehouses and heavy industries
3. Technology Park is dedicated for light industries, automated manufacturing and capital-intensive lifestyle projects
4. Academic zone is exclusive for educational organizations

Types of Trade Licenses Available in RAK Free Zone

Following licenses are available for company formation in RAK FTZ

• RAK FTZ Consulting & Service License and Real Estate License permit the holder for activities including consulting services in finance, investment, management, legal issues, economics etc. Other activities under this license are: restaurants or food outlets, catering services, travel agencies, insurance, cargo & freight forwarding and others
• RAK FTZ Commercial License allows various types of commercial activities including import, export, storage and distribution of items as specified in the license
• RAK FTZ Industrial License is necessary for business activities such as Import of raw materials, manufacturing, processing, assembling, packaging, and exporting finished products. Clearance from RAK FTZ Feasibility and environmental impact studies is mandatory for this license
• RAK FTZ General Trading License is a commercial license that allows activities like export, import, warehousing, distribution etc