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Tier 3 · Eastern Province

Ras Al-Khair SEZ

Ras Al-Khair Special Economic Zone

Ras Al-Khair, adjacent to Ras Al-Khair Port and Ras Al-Khair City for Mining Industries; ~100 km north of Jubail · Est. 2023 · Economic Cities and Special Zones Authority (ECZA) — regulator; Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu (RCJY) — zone operator/developer

AED 2,330/ yr
high confidenceVerified 18 Jul 2026official ↗
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Best for

Shipbuilders, ship-repair and MRO operators, offshore rig fabricators, marine engine and equipment manufacturers, and their supply chains that want a tax-advantaged Gulf base with a built-in Aramco/Bahri demand pipeline.

Not ideal for

Startups, SMEs, traders, consultants and any business outside the maritime/heavy-industrial scope — there are no flexi desks, no off-the-shelf licence packages and no small-business on-ramp.

01Capability profile

Six independent dimensions, scored from official zone data.

?
Banking10/15
?
Visa scale15/15
?
Cost (lower=better)19/20
?
Activity breadth8/25
?
Workspace options6/15
?
Location6/10
02Where Ras Al-Khair SEZ sits

Tick marks for every zone, Ras Al-Khair SEZ highlighted. The shape of the field, not just the rank.

Year 1 cost← lower is better

Ras Al-Khair SEZ: 98th percentile (AED 2,330) · Licence + registration, AED.

Setup time← lower is better

Ras Al-Khair SEZ: 1th percentile (120 days) · Total estimated days from application to operational.

Visa caphigher is better →

Ras Al-Khair SEZ: 94th percentile (500 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

Ras Al-Khair SEZ: Moderate · Corporate bank account opening difficulty. Each cell is one zone.

03Costs

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

2,330
Year 1 minimum · AED
AED 26,975 less than DMCC
budget tier
Show in
Base licence
AED 1,500
Registration
AED 830
Renewal (year 2+)
AED 1,500
3-year total
AED 5,330
2-year visa cost
AED 7,200
Hidden & one-off costs
Establishment card
AED 1,000
Visa renewal
AED 1,800
Visa cancellation
AED 750
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
500
Office cap
0
Warehouse cap
1
Family sponsorship
Available
Freelancer permit
Not available
Golden visa
Available
Green visa
Available
Medical required
Yes
Processing time
~21 days
Workspace options
Virtual office
No
Flexi-desk
No
Coworking
No
Dedicated office
No
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
~21 days
Minimum deposit
AED 25,000
Corp tax rate
5%
Audit cost (est)
AED 15,000
UBO filing
Required
AML / KYC
standard
Partner banks
Saudi National Bank (SNB)Al Rajhi BankRiyad BankAlinma BankSAB (Saudi Awwal Bank)
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
    ~60 business days after submission
  4. Bank account active
    Additional ~21 days · Moderate banking
  5. Operational
    Typically ~120 days, up to ~210 days
06Permitted activities

Activity categories, restrictions, and approval flags.

7 activitiesMainland selling: Yes

VLCC, bulk carrier and offshore support vessel newbuild and repair

Jack-up rig fabrication and MRO

Marine and land engine manufacturing/servicing (MAKEEN)

Steel plate production (Aramco-Baosteel)

Offshore structures fabrication (McDermott Arabia; Singatac at port)

Categories
Shipbuilding and MRORig platforms and MROOffshore cluster supply chainMaritime value chain servicesLogistics and support servicesEngineering and technical servicesCommercial services (industrial procurement/auxiliary)
Matched industry clusters
industriallogistics
Restricted
["Activities outside the zone's maritime/industrial scope (general tradingretaile-commerce)""Sectorally licensed activities (financial servicestelecom) without the relevant KSA regulator's approval""Activities prohibited under Saudi law (alcoholgamblingpork products)"]
Require approval
["All activities require ECZA/zone-authority licensing approval against the zone's qualifying activity scope""Environmental permitting (NCEC) for heavy industrial operations"]
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: Shipbuilding and MRO, Rig platforms and MRO, Offshore/maritime value chains, Marine engines, Steel plate and metals processing

200-500 companiessmall communityNetworking events: YesIncubator: No
Notable companies

["International Maritime Industries (IMI) — Aramco/Bahri/Lamprell/HHI JV, anchor shipyard, $10bn offtake (20 rigs, 52 vessels)", "Saudi Engines Manufacturing Company (MAKEEN) — Aramco/HD Hyundai/Dussur engine plant", "McDermott Arabia Company Limited — offshore fabrication, wholly owned by McDermott International", "Aramco-Baosteel steel plate plant — Aramco/PIF/Baosteel JV", "Singatac Arabia — offshore structures fabrication centre at Ras Al-Khair Port (SAR 139m, 2026)", "Ma'aden (adjacent industrial city — phosphate/aluminium feedstock ecosystem)"]

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

9 strengths · 8 caveats.

Strengths
  • ["5% CIT for up to 20 years
  • 0% WHT on payments linked to licensed activities
  • and exclusion from Zakat — one of the strongest fiscal packages in the GCC for heavy industry"
  • "Purpose-built maritime cluster: MENA's largest shipyard (King Salman International Complex
  • ~12m m2) with $10bn of secured offtake from Aramco/Bahri"
  • "Deep-water Ras Al-Khair Port next door (14 berths
  • 35 Mt capacity) plus North-East Rail link to the Kingdom's mines"
  • "Expat levy exemption for employees and their families in the zone and Saudization flexibility (0% quota first 5 years per ECZA launch materials)"
  • "0% VAT on qualifying intra-SEZ goods and customs suspension on eligible goods/capital equipment"]
Caveats
  • ["Extremely sector-specific: only shipbuilding/MRO
  • rig platforms and the offshore supply chain qualify — general trading
  • services and e-commerce businesses should look elsewhere"
  • "No published fee schedule or standard packages: licences
  • land and incentives are negotiated per investment agreement
  • so SME-style price comparison is impossible and setup runs 3-6+ months"
  • "Zone's own website (raksez-info.com) and RCJY site were unreachable at audit time; granular licensing guidance under the Apr 2026 frameworks is still being issued
  • so some incentive mechanics (e.g. exact 5% CIT claim process) await ZATCA procedural guides"]

Not ideal for: Startups, SMEs, traders, consultants and any business outside the maritime/heavy-industrial scope — there are no flexi desks, no off-the-shelf licence packages and no small-business on-ramp.

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.

Ras Al-Khair 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
Ras Al-Khair, adjacent to Ras Al-Khair Port and Ras Al-Khair City for Mining Industries; ~100 km north of Jubail
Established
2023
Authority
Economic Cities and Special Zones Authority (ECZA) — regulator; Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu (RCJY) — zone operator/developer
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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