Free Trade Zones

Dubai is a hub for a number of free zone areas offering investors the options of setting up business in a secure and hassle free environment. The Free Zone areas in Dubai are:

Jebel Ali Free Zone Authority - over 2,200 companies with approximately 40,000 workers from around the world operate over 100 square meters of land

Dubai Airport Free Zone Authority - Located within the boundary of the Airport and provides facilities for over 317 companies with 7,000 workers

Dubai Internet City - Middle East's biggest IT infrastructure employing over 5,500 knowledge workers

Dubai Media City - home to over 550 media companies and freelance media professionals

Knowledge Village - A centre of excellence for learning and innovation - A vibrant connected learning community that will develop the region's talent pool and accelerate its move to the knowledge economy by providing infrastructure for developing, sharing and applying knowledge. In addition it will facilitate, promote, and become the flagship for e-learning throughout the region

Textile City - a free zone for the textile trade covering over 2 million square feet area

Dubai International Financial Centre - established with a bold vision to create a financial marketplace to serve the region will have over 100 companies operating from here

Dubai Healthcare City - established over 3.46 million square feet to provide the highest quality healthcare service to medical care and wellness seekers - expected to be 30,000

Dubai Maritime City - with a total land area of approximately 2,300,000 square meters will bring an influx of workers into the area.

Dubai Humanitarian City - aimed at providing a suitable environment for humanitarian and related organizations, also bringing new employees into Dubai.

Dubai Festival City - will cover 1600 acres (including 3.8 kms of waterfront) and will have 21,000 residential units and will house 75,000 people

Dubai Silicon Oasis - with an area of approximately 6.5 million square meters this project will offer land for customized buildings for an industrial park for the semiconductor industry

Dubai Metals & Commodities Centre - a new free zone, this will have approximately 20,000 people working in its refineries, manufacturing units and offices .

The 'Financial Free Zone', targeting asset management, private banking and reinsurance, complete with its own courts (source: FT).

Dubai Duty Free Airport and award-winning Emirates Airlines (voted the best airline in the world by the UK's Official Airline Guide for the past three years) are spending billions to have the infrastructure in place for those 40 million visitors and semi-inhabitants that will be traveling back and forth in 2015. Two months ago, Emirates announced the biggest order in civil aviation history, worth USD 19 billion, at the Paris Air Show 2003, including 21 new Airbus A380 Double Deck Airliners, and more than two dozen leased long range Boeing 777s. Dubai International Airport was recently ranked as one of the fastest growing airports in the world, and is undergoing a USD 4.1 billion expansion. The Duty Free shopping area at Dubai Airport ranks fifth in terms of revenues, after London Heathrow, Singapore, Amsterdam and Paris.