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Tier 3 · Dubai

Dubai Textile City

Dubai Textile City

Al Warsan (Warsan South / Warsan 1), adjacent to International City and Dragon Mart; near Ras Al Khor Rd (E44) x Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Rd (E311) · Est. 2006 · Joint venture of TEXMAS (Textile Merchants Group) and Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation (PCFC); zone regulated and managed under JAFZA rules; on-site Dubai Customs & immigration services; e-services via Dubai Trade

AED 17,000 – AED 35,950/ yr
high confidenceVerified 18 Jul 2026official ↗
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Best for

Wholesale textile, fabric and garment traders (especially TEXMAS member houses) needing bonded warehousing plus showroom space next to Dragon Mart for MENA/Africa re-export.

Not ideal for

Non-textile businesses, service/consultancy firms, and startups that need flexi-desk/virtual setups, transparent online pricing or fast digital onboarding — better served by mainstream zones (DMCC, IFZA, Meydan).

01Capability profile

Six independent dimensions, scored from official zone data.

?
Banking7/15
?
Visa scale15/15
?
Cost (lower=better)14/20
?
Activity breadth12/25
?
Workspace options6/15
?
Location9/10
02Where Dubai Textile City sits

Tick marks for every zone, Dubai Textile City highlighted. The shape of the field, not just the rank.

Year 1 cost← lower is better

Dubai Textile City: 32th percentile (AED 17,000) · Licence + registration, AED.

Setup time← lower is better

Dubai Textile City: 40th percentile (10 days) · Total estimated days from application to operational.

Visa caphigher is better →

Dubai Textile City: 40th percentile (50 visas) · Absolute maximum visa allocation. Values above 500 clipped to the right edge so the bulk of the distribution stays readable.

Banking ease← better
Easy
4
Moderate
73
Difficult
15
Very difficult
1

Dubai Textile City: Difficult · Corporate bank account opening difficulty. Each cell is one zone.

03Costs

Year-one license, renewals, and 5-year totals in AED.

17,000
– 35,950
Year 1 range · AED
AED 12,305 less than DMCC
budget tier
Show in
Base licence
AED 12,000
Registration
AED 5,000
Renewal (year 2+)
AED 10,000
3-year total
AED 37,000
2-year visa cost
AED 2,678
Hidden & one-off costs
Establishment card
AED 1,900
Minimum share capital
AED 50,000
Cancellation fee
AED 3,500
Visa renewal
AED 1,500
Visa cancellation
AED 506
Emirates ID (per visa)
AED 370
Dependent / spouse visa
AED 2,500
Year-on-year fee tracking begins 2026 — changes appear here as they accrue.
Indicative, from published ratesOfficial fee schedule ↗Verified 2026-07high confidence

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04Visas & workspace

Visa caps, workspace options, and family-sponsorship rules.

Visa allocation
Maximum visas
50
Flexi-desk cap
1
Office cap
5
Warehouse cap
3
Family sponsorship
Available
Freelancer permit
Not available
Golden visa
Available
Green visa
Available
Medical required
Yes
Processing time
~15 days
Workspace options
Virtual office
No
Flexi-desk
No
Coworking
No
Dedicated office
Yes
Executive office
Yes
Warehouse
Yes
Industrial unit
No
Land plot
No
Ejari issued
Yes
Parking
Yes
Dedicated office cost
AED 20,000/yr
05Banking & setup

Banking difficulty, partner banks, and setup timeline.

Banking
Difficulty
Difficult
Time to account
~10 days
Minimum deposit
AED 15,000
Corp tax rate
0%
Audit cost (est)
AED 7,000
UBO filing
Required
AML / KYC
standard
Partner banks
Emirates NBDMashreqADCB
Setup timeline
  1. Registration mode
    Fully online — no in-person visit required
  2. Documents & application
    Passport, visa, business plan — ~3–5 days
  3. Licence issued
    ~3 business days after submission
  4. Bank account active
    Additional ~10 days · Difficult banking
  5. Operational
    Typically ~10 days, up to ~20 days
06Package pricing

4 packages from official fee schedules.

All figures in AED, from official fee schedules. Visa and health-insurance costs are additional.

PackageVisasYear 1Renewal
Virtual License – Textile Trading – 0 VisasBest value0AED 17,000AED 10,000
Flexi Desk – 1 Visa1AED 22,000AED 13,000
Office Unit – 3 Visas3AED 38,000AED 26,000
Warehouse Bay – 5 Visas5AED 60,000AED 45,000
07Permitted activities

Activity categories, restrictions, and approval flags.

20-30 activitiesDual license: No

fabric trading

ready-made garments trading

textile wholesale & re-export

Categories
textile & fabric tradinggarments & apparel tradingfashion accessories tradinghome textiles tradingimport/export & re-export of textiles
Matched industry clusters
tradingmedialogistics
Restricted
Activities unrelated to the textilefashionand apparel industry; standard UAE prohibited activities.
Require approval
all activities subject to zone/TEXMAS review; TEXMAS membership linkage appliesJAFZA initial approval required
08Jurisdiction & ecosystem

Legal framework, tax status, audit requirements, and zone focus — every value sourced.

Common lawNo
VAT designated zoneYes
QFZP eligible (0% tax)Yes
Inferred · 2026-07-18
Mainland permitYes
Inferred · 2026-07-18
Audit requiredNo
Inferred · 2026-07-18
Economic substancestandard
Inferred · 2026-07-18

This zone offers physical-office options sufficient for a standard QFZP substance posture, though the bar still applies at the entity level (CTGFZP1).

Focus: textiles, apparel, fashion

~460+ TEXMAS association members (official TEXMAS figure); this is association-wide membership, NOT DTC-registered company count - DTC company count is unpublished companiesmedium community
Notable companies

Textile trading companies, garment manufacturers, fabric distributors

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.

09Strengths & limitations

5 strengths · 4 caveats.

Strengths
  • VAT Designated Zone under Cabinet Decision 59/2017 — qualifying goods movements out of scope of UAE VAT; goods enter mainland only as imports
  • Purpose-built textile hub: warehouses (with loading bays), showrooms and offices plus dedicated on-site Dubai Customs & immigration services
  • 100% foreign ownership, full capital/profit repatriation, customs-duty exemption in-zone, 0% corporate tax on qualifying income (QFZP conditions)
  • Backed by TEXMAS (~460 merchant members) with PCFC partnership; long-term renewable leases historically offered on accessible terms
  • Strategic location next to Dragon Mart/International City at the E44 x E311 junction, ~13 min from Dubai International Airport
Caveats
  • No official standalone website and no published fee schedule — license, visa and rent pricing requires direct inquiry to TEXMAS/zone office (transparency gap)
  • Restricted to textile-related trading only; physical lease mandatory (no flexi-desk/virtual options); TEXMAS membership linkage
  • Textile wholesale/re-export attracts enhanced bank AML due diligence — expect slower corporate account opening
  • Ageing 2006 facility with peak-hour traffic congestion reported around International City/Warsan

Not ideal for: Non-textile businesses, service/consultancy firms, and startups that need flexi-desk/virtual setups, transparent online pricing or fast digital onboarding — better served by mainstream zones (DMCC, IFZA, Meydan).

10Recent developments

2 policy and pricing updates on record.

  1. Q2 2025Dubai Textile City confirmed alignment with Dubai's Made in UAE programme, enabling qualifying textile manufacturers in the zone to access government procurement preference schemes.
  2. Q4 2024Zone management completed a phase of warehouse unit refurbishments, adding climate-controlled storage bays suitable for delicate fabric and high-value fashion inventory.
11Tax considerations

5 tax questions relevant to this zone.

Questions to raise with your tax advisor

  1. 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%.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

12Frequently asked

4 common questions specific to Dubai Textile City.

13Similar zones in Dubai

3 comparable zones in the same emirate.

14About this data

Last verified 2026-07-18 · high confidence.

Dubai Textile City 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 Warsan (Warsan South / Warsan 1), adjacent to International City and Dragon Mart; near Ras Al Khor Rd (E44) x Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Rd (E311)
Established
2006
Authority
Joint venture of TEXMAS (Textile Merchants Group) and Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation (PCFC); zone regulated and managed under JAFZA rules; on-site Dubai Customs & immigration services; e-services via Dubai Trade
Last verified
2026-07-18
Confidence
high
Methodology
How we score →
Cited source
Fee data sourced from the official fee schedule, fetched 2026-07-18. View source ↗
Per-field citations
How we verify every zone →
15Founder reviews

What founders who've registered here say.

1★3 reviewsGoogle

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16Take the next step

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