Jebel Ali offers companies flexibility in setting up at Dubai free zone

Jebel Ali offers companies flexibility in setting up at Dubai free zone.

Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZA), the UAE’s biggest trade and logistics hub, has brought in regulations to give companies flexibility in how they set up shop, as it seeks to boost investments.

The cornerstone of the new regulations, Jafza said on Tuesday, is the option for companies to transfer to the free zone and continue operations without having to open a new branch or establish a new company, it said.

“For the first time JAFZA has brought together all the legal entities such as the Free Zone Establishment (FZE), Free Zone Company (FZCO) and Branches under one regulation and has introduced a new legal definition such as Public Listed Companies (PLC),” JAFZA said in its statement.

“Companies can restructure and rearrange their operations by converting from an FZE or FZCO to a PLC and vice versa, enabling continuity of business in the free zones. Foreign companies will also be able to transfer to the free zone keeping intact all their commitments so attracting international business to the JAFZA.”

JAFZA said in September that its first-half profit last year increased by 13.5 percent as operational performance improved and costs were reduced on the back of an early bank repayment in 2015.

Net income increased to Dh588 million in the first six months of 2016 compared with Dh518m in the same period a year earlier. Revenue increased by 5.8 per cent to Dh978m versus Dh924m in the same period a year earlier, it said.

At the same time, 242 new customers were added during the period compared with 313 new customers added during the same period a year earlier.

The free zone, established in 1985, is home to thousands of businesses from more than 100 countries that employ over 144,000 people. The zone attracts 32 percent of the UAE’s foreign direct investment, according to Jafza.