Your Trusted Partner for Business Success in the UAE
At RAS Corporate Advisors, we’re dedicated to making your business setup in the United Arab Emirates seamless, strategic, and successful.
Setting up a company on the UAE mainland is an excellent opportunity for businesses targeting global expansion, especially in Dubai, known for its robust infrastructure and strategic location. Mainland business formation in Dubai is often preferred over Free Zone and offshore setups due to its broader market access and fewer trade restrictions. Opting for a mainland license grants full access to the UAE market, offering unmatched flexibility and growth potential—making it an ideal choice for companies focused on long-term success in the region.
How to Create a Company in the UAE Mainland
The UAE offers a straightforward process for mainland company registration, especially with organized steps. Here’s a streamlined guide to setting up your mainland business in Dubai:
DED Registration
Begin by registering with the Department of Economic Development (DED), which oversees all business plans and licensing.
DED Registration
This registration is crucial, as DED issues the essential mainland license to officially operate in Dubai.
Confirm Office Location
Confirm your business address by verifying your office location with the Dubai Municipal Corporation. You’ll need a tenancy contract and Ejari registration before proceeding with the final license application.
Confirm Office Location
This is the next essential step in setting up your mainland business in Dubai is to confirm your business address. This is the process by which your office location is verified by the Dubai Municipal Corporation.
Partner with a Business Consulting Firm
Due to the specific requirements of mainland setup, working with a reliable consulting firm like RAS Corporate Advisors is invaluable.
Partner with a Business Consulting Firm
They manage the paperwork, local sponsor coordination, and support visa arrangements, ensuring your business setup is seamless and compliant.
Dubai Mainland Business Setup Procedures
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Choose a suitable legal organisation entity and activity.
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Set up a local agent or sponsor if needed.
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Approve business name and activity Attest MOA/Agreement
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Select an office location and get the tenancy agreement.
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Verify all necessary approvals twice using RAS Corporate Advisors.
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Send all the papers to get your licence.
Mainland Company in Dubai
Though mainland company setup in Dubai involves additional legal requirements, paper work, and technical procedures, the opportunities it offers are priceless. A mainland company structure in UAE offers the following important advantages:
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Unrestricted Trade: You will be free to trade with any other UAE or worldwide company as well as with other mainland businesses in Dubai. Free zones have this flexibility; trade is constrained until taxes are paid.
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Government Project Access: Only mainland Dubai businesses can submit quotations for government contracts. The UAE government gives big budgets for important campaigns, which presents great chances for businesses on territory.
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Established Market Presence: By establishing branches anywhere in the UAE and improving your accessibility to the local market, a mainland company incorporation in Dubai helps you to create a strong, respectable presence.
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Financial Advantage: Starting trading does not require an initial capital investment.
Mainland Company Licensing Options in Dubai
Dubai offers two primary license options for mainland company setup:
Commercial Business License: A popular choice where the ex-pat partner owns 49%, and a local sponsor holds 51% ownership.
Professional Business License: Here, the ex-pat partner retains 100% ownership, with the local sponsor acting as a service agent.
Thanks to Dubai’s strategic location, a mainland business provides advantages like debt freedom, legal benefits, and full market access. While Free Zones offer appealing benefits, a mainland company structure unlocks unmatched growth potential. Connect with RAS Corporate Advisors to learn more about which license best suits your business needs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Starting from very registration to licensing, processes of business setup in UAE are done with little to no paperwork. There’s a whole different set of laws applicable to foreigners (except criminal). What is more? The World Bank ranks UAE 1st in Africa and the Middle East for ‘Ease of Doing Business,’ with an 11h rank globally. Not an easy feat. So, yes, UAE is definitely good for business.
Setting up a business in UAE has some costs involved but that is nothing out-of-the-ordinary.
A good business establishment consultancy can help you steer through the costing and sorts. Prices are included for different steps like initial approval, name approval, type of MOA, sponsorship fee, licensing fee, and so on.
RAS Corporate Advisors can help you with Low Cost Business Setup in UAE. Majority of costs involved in UAE business setup are fees paid to the government at different layers of advancement.
If success is determined by capital, liquid funds, Abu Dhabi has to be UAE’s best emirate for company formation. Vast oil resources make it the wealthiest. If you’re looking for company formation in the capital of UAE, then this is your destination.
However, Dubai remains one of UAE’s most attractive business destinations, with extravagant resalestates, opportunity for every type of business, huge population to deal with and many other factors.
Some of UAE’s most successful businesses are tours and travels, real estate, banking, IT services, food delivery, e-commerce, restaurant among others.
Starting a small business in UAE should start with determining the type of business. Ask for advice from your trusted business consultancy service provider.
Different businesses have different needs, and so different locations in UAE have different business ecosystems to offer. Around 95% businesses in Dubai are SME businesses. So the answer is – consultation.
Ease of doing business in or around UAE is dependent on what business you’re into and from which business zone you’re operating your business.
Among freezones, offshore and mainland businesses, the mainland has the edge of better access to the business scene in UAE.
In the same way, an offshore business setup will be able to take the benefits of a restriction-free foreign trade.
Ask RAS Corporate Advisors for a detailed explanation on different business setup and execution prospects Dubai has to offer.
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