Dubai’s Jebel Ali Free Zone slashes business licence fees by up to 70%

On Tuesday, DP World, the owner of the Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza) in Dubai, said that it has slashed its fees for new licence registrations and administration fees for businesses already operating in the free zone by 50-70 per cent.

The move will benefit existing businesses as well as those looking to set up operations within the free zone.

Also, as part of Jafza’s digitalization process, a range of other online services will now be offered at no cost.

The Jafza Customer Support Initiative, as it is being termed, will be a boon to the over 7,500 businesses that currently operate out of the free zone.

Read: Dubai’s non-oil foreign trade rises 6 per cent to Dhs1.37 trillion in 2019

DP World, UAE Region currently contributes to over 33.4 per cent of Dubai’s GDP.

Commenting on the revision of the business licence fees, Mohammed Al Muallem, CEO and managing director of DP World, UAE Region and CEO of Jafza said, “It’s a timely move to inspire our customers towards pursuing their business targets with greater confidence and purpose. We believe this forward-looking initiative will enable companies to do business in a smarter way and generate more business and create new jobs.

“The activities of our flagships Jebel Ali Port and Jebel Ali Free Zone are very closely connected with companies located there to take advantage of the world class infrastructure facilities and investment incentives and to connect to global markets.”

Similar measures to boost investor and business confidence in free zone include the announcement it made in May 2019,  wherein it decided to waive an estimated Dhs35m in fines owed by its customers as part of the UAE government’s designation of 2019 as the ‘Year of Tolerance’.

Read: Dubai’s Jebel Ali freezone waives Dhs35m in fines

In March, it was revealed that Dubai’s non-oil foreign trade rose 6 per cent in 2019 to Dhs1.37 trillion. The emirate’s free zones were a major contributor to the spurt in its foreign trade, which was up 11 per cent in 2019, amounting to Dhs592bn.