Al Hulaila Industrial Zone (RAKEZ)
Al Hulaila Industrial Zone · Est. 2017 · RAKEZ
Heavy and medium manufacturers, building-materials producers and bulk-cargo traders who need large plots or warehouses, on-site labour housing and port access at northern-emirates cost levels, with VAT designated-zone benefits on goods.
Consultancies, freelancers and e-commerce SMEs wanting flexi-desk pricing and an office community (use RAKEZ business zones instead), and any business that needs published fixed pricing or a Dubai address.
01Capability profile
02Where Al Hulaila Industrial Zone sits
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Corporate bank account opening difficulty. Each cell is one zone.
03Costs
- Base licence
- AED 6,000
- Registration
- AED 0
- Renewal (year 2+)
- AED 6,000
- 3-year total
- AED 18,000
- 2-year visa cost
- AED 3,000
- Flexi-desk per year
- AED 6,000
- Establishment card
- AED 1,500
- Cancellation fee
- AED 3,000
- Visa cancellation
- AED 3,500
- Emirates ID (per visa)
- AED 370
- Dependent / spouse visa
- AED 1,505
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04Visas & workspace
- Maximum visas
- 6
- Flexi-desk cap
- 0
- Office cap
- 6
- Warehouse cap
- 6
- Family sponsorship
- Available
- Freelancer permit
- Not available
- Golden visa
- Available
- Green visa
- Available
- Medical required
- Yes
- Processing time
- ~5 days
- Virtual office
- No
- Flexi-desk
- No
- Coworking
- No
- Dedicated office
- Yes
- Executive office
- No
- Warehouse
- Yes
- Industrial unit
- Yes
- Land plot
- Yes
- Ejari issued
- No
- Parking
- Yes
- Dedicated office cost
- AED 27,000/yr
05Banking & setup
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to account
- ~10 days
- Minimum deposit
- AED 10,000
- Corp tax rate
- 0%
- Audit cost (est)
- AED 5,000
- UBO filing
- Required
- AML / KYC
- standard
- Registration modeFully online — no in-person visit required
- Documents & applicationPassport, visa, business plan — ~3–5 days
- Licence issued~3 business days after submission
- Bank account activeAdditional ~10 days · Moderate banking
- OperationalTypically ~7 days, up to ~30 days
06Permitted activities
Heavy industrial manufacturing
Building materials
Plastics & packaging
Assembly & processing
Bulk storage & distribution
07Jurisdiction & ecosystem
This zone offers physical-office options sufficient for a standard QFZP substance posture, though the bar still applies at the entity level (CTGFZP1).
Focus: Industrial, Manufacturing, Trading, Logistics
IAG (International Armored Group), Sunreef Yachts, Knauf
QFZP, audit, mainland-permit and substance values are sourced where the zone authority or FTA publishes them, and inferred from published zone characteristics otherwise. How we determine these values.
08Strengths & limitations
- ["VAT designated zone ('Al Hulaila Industrial Zone - Free Zone'
- Cabinet Decision 59/2017): qualifying goods movements treated as outside UAE VAT scope - a real cash-flow advantage for traders/manufacturers"
- 'Purpose-built for heavy industry: land plots from 5
- 000 m2
- warehouses 150-10
- 000 m2
- heavy power/water/gas utilities and multi-lane highway access'
- 'On-site staff and labour accommodation (lease or build) cuts workforce logistics cost'
- "Close to Saqr Port
- MENA's largest bulk-cargo port - strong for import of raw materials and bulk export"
- 'RAKEZ-level cost advantage: SME licence packages from AED 6
- 000 and 0% corporate tax on qualifying income; operating costs 30-50% below Dubai industrial zones']
- Industrial-only product set: no flexi desks, coworking or executive offices in-district (small/medium offices only); SME packages sit in RAKEZ business zones
- No published tariff for industrial licences, land or warehouses - everything is quote-based, slowing cost comparison
- Zone-specific public data is thin (tenant counts, named companies, district history); RAK location is ~1 hour from Dubai
Not ideal for: Consultancies, freelancers and e-commerce SMEs wanting flexi-desk pricing and an office community (use RAKEZ business zones instead), and any business that needs published fixed pricing or a Dubai address.
09Tax considerations
Does your planned revenue qualify under the QFZP qualifying-income rules?
QFZP 0% only applies to qualifying income. Mainland trading or revenue from non-free-zone clients is generally non-qualifying and taxed at 9%.
Will you need audited accounts even if this zone doesn't require them?
FTA corporate-tax filing typically expects audited accounts for revenue above AED 50M, and banks often request them at much lower thresholds.
Do your goods movements actually fall inside the VAT Designated Zone treatment?
Designated Zone status applies to goods within the zone, not services. Most service businesses get no VAT benefit from being inside one.
How much of your revenue will come from mainland UAE customers, and how does that affect QFZP and 5% VAT obligations?
Mainland revenue beyond ad-hoc levels can disqualify QFZP and triggers full 9% corporate tax plus standard VAT on supplies.
Do any of your customers, suppliers, or shareholders meet the FTA's related-party definition?
Related-party transactions need transfer-pricing documentation and may push otherwise-qualifying income into the 9% bracket.
These prompts are due-diligence questions, not tax advice. Confirm every answer with a UAE-licensed tax advisor before incorporating.
10About this data
Al Hulaila Industrial Zone data is sourced from official zone authority publications, government fee schedules, and where available, verified against direct communications with the zone. All figures in AED.
- Location
- Al Hulaila Industrial Zone
- Established
- 2017
- Authority
- RAKEZ
- Last verified
- 2026-07-18
- Confidence
- high
- Methodology
- How we score →
- QFZP eligibility (0% corporate tax)Secondary · 2026-07-18Primary source ↗
- Audit requirementSecondary · 2026-07-18Primary source ↗
- Economic substanceSecondary · 2026-07-18Primary source ↗
- Mainland trading permitSecondary · 2026-07-18Primary source ↗
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