UAE a global hub for businesses and attracts foreign investments

The UAE has become a top global destination for businesses focusing on innovation, artificial intelligence, and entrepreneurship, as well as for attracting foreign investments, which led to an improvement in its rankings on international indicators related to business and investment attractiveness.

The country provides various incentives for investors, supports entrepreneurship, and encourages the establishment of more companies to help diversify national income sources.

By continuously enhancing its economic environment to attract foreign investments, the UAE aims to strengthen the role of investments in its national economy.

The Emirates News Agency (WAM) outlines 13 benefits and incentives extended to investors in the UAE, which have significantly boosted the country’s investment appeal, attracted substantial investments, and positioned it as a leading global investment hub.

15 minutes to start a business in the UAEBasher, a digital platform for investors and entrepreneurs in the UAE and around the world, provides investors and entrepreneurs in the UAE and around the world with a complete range of government services to conduct their business in order to improve the ease of doing business and attract more investment to the UAE.

Basher is a completely new tool for setting up a business through an intelligent and unified digital platform that offers simple and secure procedures and allows investors and entrepreneurs to obtain a business licence without having to visit any government office.

100% ownership of companies. Following the promulgation of the Commercial Companies Law in 2020, investors of all nationalities will be able to fully establish and own companies in the UAE and all regions, and the presence of a UAE national agent will no longer be required for foreign companies wishing to open a branch and carry out their activities in the UAE.

40 free zones for setting up a businessThe UAE offers more than 40 free zones, which allow foreign investors to own 100 per cent of their companies, and the country offers investors flexibility in choosing the appropriate free zone in which to establish their companies, and free zones are spread throughout the country and allow the practice of all economic activities.

2000 economic activitiesForeign investors in the UAE can invest in trade, industry, agriculture, services, education, health, construction and many others, and the available economic activities exceed 2000 economic activities, and the law excludes a very limited number of activities of strategic importance.

Legal Forms of CompaniesFollowing the issuance of Federal Law No. (26) of 2020 on Commercial Companies, foreign investors are allowed to own all legal forms of commercial companies, such as “public joint stock companies, private joint stock companies, limited liability companies, simple recommendation companies, and solidarity companies.”

No requirement for a national agentThe UAE Commercial Companies Law does not require foreign companies wishing to open a branch and carry out their activities in the UAE to have an agent who is a citizen of the country, which is an important advantage enjoyed by foreign companies and enhances the ease of doing business in the UAE and gives them more transparency.

Boards of Joint Stock CompaniesThe UAE Commercial Companies Law does not require that the chairman of the board of directors or the majority of the board members be UAE nationals, giving foreign investors the right to fully control their shares in companies, unless any decree or decision stipulates otherwise.

No minimum capital requirementUAE law also directs investors to specify the capital in the articles of incorporation and articles of association. However, there is no minimum capital requirement for limited liability companies, making it easier for investors to set up companies and establish businesses, giving investors greater flexibility in planning their projects.

No income tax and full profit remittanceThe UAE imposes no income tax on individuals. Individuals and investors are free to fully repatriate their profits, and these incentives are advantages that investors in the UAE have historically enjoyed since the country’s free-market model has been followed since the country’s founding.