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Tier 3 · Al Wusta

Special Economic Zone at Duqm (SEZD)

Duqm SEZ · Est. 2011 · Special Economic Zone Authority at Duqm (SEZAD); supervised by the Public Authority for Special Economic Zones and Free Zones (OPAZ) since Royal Decree 105/2020

AED 5,980/ yr
high confidenceVerified 18 Jul 2026official ↗
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Best for

Industrial, petrochemical, energy-transition, maritime and logistics investors needing large land plots, port access and long tax certainty in a stable jurisdiction; also developers of tourism/real-estate projects inside a master-planned new city.

Not ideal for

Freelancers, e-commerce sellers and service startups seeking cheap flexi-desk licences, fast casual banking, or an established expat community — UAE free zones or Oman's urban free zones (Sohar/Salalah/Muscat) fit better.

01Capability profile

Six independent dimensions, scored from official zone data.

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Banking10/15
?
Visa scale3/15
?
Cost (lower=better)18/20
?
Activity breadth12/25
?
Workspace options9/15
?
Location6/10
02Where Duqm SEZ sits

Tick marks for every zone, Duqm SEZ highlighted. The shape of the field, not just the rank.

Year 1 cost← lower is better

Duqm SEZ: 85th percentile (AED 5,980) · Licence + registration, AED.

Setup time← lower is better

Duqm SEZ: 13th percentile (20 days) · Total estimated days from application to operational.

Visa caphigher is better →

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

Duqm SEZ: Moderate · Corporate bank account opening difficulty. Each cell is one zone.

03Costs

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

5,980
Year 1 minimum · AED
AED 23,325 less than DMCC
budget tier
Show in
Base licence
AED 5,730
Registration
AED 250
2-year visa cost
AED 3,065
Hidden & one-off costs
Establishment card
AED 1,000
Visa renewal
AED 2,875
Visa cancellation
AED 955
Emirates ID (per visa)
AED 573
Dependent / spouse visa
AED 286
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
Flexi-desk cap
0
Office cap
5
Warehouse cap
3
Family sponsorship
Available
Freelancer permit
Not available
Golden visa
Available
Medical required
Yes
Processing time
~5 days
Workspace options
Virtual office
No
Flexi-desk
No
Coworking
Yes
Dedicated office
Yes
Executive office
No
Warehouse
Yes
Industrial unit
Yes
Land plot
Yes
Ejari issued
No
Parking
Yes
05Banking & setup

Banking difficulty, partner banks, and setup timeline.

Banking
Difficulty
Moderate
Time to account
~10 days
Minimum deposit
AED 25,000
Corp tax rate
0%
Audit cost (est)
AED 5,000
UBO filing
Required
AML / KYC
standard
Partner banks
Bank Muscat (branch in Duqm)National Bank of Oman (NBO)Bank DhofarSohar InternationalAhli Bank Oman
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
    ~7 business days after submission
  4. Bank account active
    Additional ~10 days · Moderate banking
  5. Operational
    Typically ~20 days, up to ~90 days
06Permitted activities

Activity categories, restrictions, and approval flags.

~130+ licensable activities (OPAZ cut operating fees for 'over 130 activities' in SEZAD in 2022); 2025 licence issuance mix: 360 commercial, 65 industrial, 2 tourism (427 total) activitiesMainland selling: YesDual license: No

Oil refining & petrochemicals (OQ8/Duqm Refinery)

Ship repair & dry dock (Oman Drydock Company)

Green hydrogen & green ammonia (ACME-Scatec GHC)

Wind turbine manufacturing (Mawarid Turbine)

Green steel (Jindal Duqm)

Crude oil storage (Ras Markaz/OOTC)

Sino-Oman Industrial Park (Oman Wanfang)

Fisheries & food processing cluster

Categories
Heavy industry & petrochemicals/refiningMedium & light manufacturingCommercial/tradingLogistics & warehousingFisheries & food industriesMining & mineralsTourism & hospitalityReal estate developmentClean energy (green hydrogen, wind, solar)Health, education & community services
Matched industry clusters
tradingindustriallogistics
Restricted
Banks, financial institutions, insurance/reinsurance, telecoms and land-transport companies are excluded from the tax holiday unless registered with SEZAD and operating continuously within the zoneAlcohol, shisha and tobacco sales carry a premium OMR 5,000/yr licenceExplosives/chemical imports require prior approvalsLegally banned imports prohibited
Require approval
Yesfor certain industrial and strategic activities
07Jurisdiction & ecosystem

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

Common lawNo
VAT designated zoneNo
QFZP eligible (0% tax)No
Inferred · 2026-07-18
Mainland permitNo
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: Petrochemicals & refining, Heavy/medium/light manufacturing, Port logistics & ship repair, Green hydrogen & renewables, Fisheries & food industries, Mining & minerals, Tourism, Real estate/New Duqm City

not_found cumulative; official 2025 activity: 506 new commercial registrations issued, 427 economic licences (360 commercial, 65 industrial, 2 tourism), 1,562 visas/work permits, 14 investment agreements worth RO 94.34m companiesmedium (project-worker population; ~65,075 airport passengers in 2025; zone employment growing with refinery/port ramp-up) communityNetworking events: YesIncubator: No
Notable companies

OQ8 / Duqm Refinery & Petrochemical Industries (OQ-KPI JV, 230k bpd), Oman Drydock Company, Port of Duqm Company (Omani Govt–Port of Antwerp-Bruges JV), Oman Tank Terminal Company / Ras Markaz crude storage, Green Hydrogen & Chemicals Co. (ACME-Scatec), Jindal Duqm Green Steel, Mawarid Turbine (wind turbine plant), Oman Wanfang (Sino-Oman Industrial Park), Sebacic Oman (bio-refinery), Alshaya Group steel moulds plant (2026 agreement)

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

5 strengths · 4 caveats.

Strengths
  • Strategic location in Oman for heavy industry, petrochemicals, and logistics.
  • Zero minimum capital requirement, reducing initial investment barrier.
  • Online registration available, simplifying initial setup process.
  • Competitive base license cost (AED 7,162-11,460) for a Tier 3 zone.
  • Potential for significant growth in manufacturing, tourism, and real estate.
Caveats
  • Remote location ~550 km from Muscat; limited city services, schools, housing and bank branches in Duqm town (still maturing)
  • No flexi-desk/virtual-office options or bundled SME packages — model suits capital-intensive industrial/logistics projects, not micro-businesses
  • Fee schedule base (Decision 8/2016) is a decade old with piecemeal SME amendments; confirm current tariffs with SEZAD before committing
  • Zone employment market and supply chains still thin outside anchor projects

Not ideal for: Freelancers, e-commerce sellers and service startups seeking cheap flexi-desk licences, fast casual banking, or an established expat community — UAE free zones or Oman's urban free zones (Sohar/Salalah/Muscat) fit better.

09Tax considerations

2 tax questions relevant to this zone.

Questions to raise with your tax advisor

  1. 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.

  2. 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

Last verified 2026-07-18 · high confidence.

Duqm SEZ 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
Duqm SEZ
Established
2011
Authority
Special Economic Zone Authority at Duqm (SEZAD); supervised by the Public Authority for Special Economic Zones and Free Zones (OPAZ) since Royal Decree 105/2020
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 →
11Founder reviews

What founders who've registered here say.

4.5★150 reviewsGoogle

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12Take the next step

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