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Tier 3 · Dhofar

Salalah Free Zone

Salalah Free Zone

Salalah (HQ office at Al-Awqadain, Raysut area, adjacent to Port of Salalah) · Est. 2006 · Public Authority for Special Economic Zones and Free Zones (OPAZ) - regulator; Salalah Free Zone Company (SFZCO) under Asyad Group - operator

AED 15,285/ yr
high confidenceVerified 18 Jul 2026official ↗
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Best for

Industrial, logistics, pharmaceutical, food-processing and petrochemical companies that want port-side operations in southern Oman with a long tax holiday and US FTA access.

Not ideal for

Freelancers, micro-service businesses or anyone seeking a cheap flexi-desk licence with published prices, or companies that need a large expat community and on-site lifestyle amenities.

01Capability profile

Six independent dimensions, scored from official zone data.

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Banking10/15
?
Visa scale15/15
?
Cost (lower=better)15/20
?
Activity breadth4/25
?
Workspace options12/15
?
Location6/10
02Where Salalah Free Zone sits

Tick marks for every zone, Salalah Free Zone highlighted. The shape of the field, not just the rank.

Year 1 cost← lower is better

Salalah Free Zone: 36th percentile (AED 15,285) · Licence + registration, AED.

Setup time← lower is better

Salalah Free Zone: 8th percentile (21 days) · Total estimated days from application to operational.

Visa caphigher is better →

Salalah Free Zone: 54th percentile (80 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

Salalah Free Zone: Moderate · Corporate bank account opening difficulty. Each cell is one zone.

03Costs

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

15,285
Year 1 minimum · AED
AED 14,020 less than DMCC
budget tier
Show in
Base licence
AED 5,730
Registration
AED 9,555
2-year visa cost
AED 1,910
Flexi-desk per year
AED 8,022
Hidden & one-off costs
Establishment card
AED 1,000
Visa cancellation
AED 1,000
Dependent / spouse visa
AED 285
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
80
Family sponsorship
Available
Freelancer permit
Not available
Golden visa
Available
Medical required
Yes
Processing time
~14 days
Workspace options
Virtual office
No
Flexi-desk
Yes
Coworking
No
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
~7 days
Minimum deposit
AED 25,000
Corp tax rate
0%
Audit cost (est)
AED 4,800
UBO filing
Required
AML / KYC
standard
Partner banks
Bank MuscatNational Bank of Oman (NBO)Sohar InternationalBank DhofarAhli 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 ~7 days · Moderate banking
  5. Operational
    Typically ~21 days, up to ~45 days
06Permitted activities

Activity categories, restrictions, and approval flags.

7 activitiesMainland selling: YesDual license: No

['Green hydrogen / renewable energy projects'

"Pharmaceutical manufacturing ('Flex Farms' medical & pharma technology complex)"

'Petrochemicals & downstream'

'Port-linked logistics and transshipment']

Categories
Petrochemicals & DownstreamPharmaceuticals & HealthcareFood ProcessingRenewable Energy & HydrogenMinerals & Industrial MaterialsLogistics & WarehousingHigh-tech industriesPackaging & Assembly
Matched industry clusters
logistics
Restricted
Activities that are against Omani law are restricted. Specific approvals may be needed for certain regulated sectors.
Require approval
Environmental permit for manufacturing, processing, recycling, chemical-based industries (OPAZ fee OMR 300-900 per 3 years by class)Ministry of Health / Tender Board coordination for pharma producersConstruction permit and Civil Defence approvals for facility builds (OPAZ building permit OMR 200 + OMR 0.025/sqm over 5,000 sqm)
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 & Downstream, Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare, Food Processing, Renewable Energy & Hydrogen, Minerals & Industrial Materials, Logistics & Warehousing

100+ operational companies (official about page, verified 2026-07-17) companiesmedium community
Notable companies

OQ, Octal Petrochemicals (OCTAL), SIFCO, Carmeuse, TotalCo, Al Jood Food Factory

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
  • Adjacent to Port of Salalah, a top regional transshipment hub, on East-West shipping lanes
  • Income-tax exemption up to 30 years plus customs-duty suspension; 5% VAT only on domestic Omani sales
  • 100% foreign ownership, no minimum capital, no repatriation restrictions
  • US-Oman FTA gives SFZ-made goods preferential access to the US market
  • Full facility stack: furnished offices/BSS, MAZAYA warehouses, third-party warehouse parks, land plots from 1,000 sqm
Caveats
  • Zone-operator licence/lease tariff not republished since the 2021 Investor Guide - figures may have changed under the 2023 OPAZ fee harmonization; confirm with SFZCO
  • Offshore/virtual registration not permitted; a physical lease is mandatory from day one
  • ~20% Omanisation quota applies to the workforce
  • Small ecosystem (~100 companies) and limited on-site amenities vs GCC mega-zones

Not ideal for: Freelancers, micro-service businesses or anyone seeking a cheap flexi-desk licence with published prices, or companies that need a large expat community and on-site lifestyle amenities.

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.

10Similar zones in Dhofar

1 comparable zones in the same emirate.

11About this data

Last verified 2026-07-18 · high confidence.

Salalah Free 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
Salalah (HQ office at Al-Awqadain, Raysut area, adjacent to Port of Salalah)
Established
2006
Authority
Public Authority for Special Economic Zones and Free Zones (OPAZ) - regulator; Salalah Free Zone Company (SFZCO) under Asyad Group - operator
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 →
12Founder reviews

What founders who've registered here say.

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13Take the next step

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