Speaking of location, the UAE is one of the luckiest nations on the world’s map. Sitting over a fairly large expanse of land that allows easy access by both sea and air. The United Arab Emirates has an average eight-hour flight distance from two-thirds of the world. To cap it all, the region has prominent trade routes that extend to Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. While these geographical features put the country at a big advantage, it also presents amazing opportunities to entrepreneurs trading in the import-export industry.
The global position of the UAE is one reason why the country has a relatively small import deficit. The current import figures stand at USD 175bn while the exports are valued at USD 142bn from trade deals with India, China, Turkey and many states in the European Union. Each one of these advantages aggregate into something bigger, they make the basis for the ease with which entrepreneurs can start an import export business in Dubai. Also, getting a UAE trading license makes you able to trade multiple goods under one license while the free zones let your business enjoy 100% exemption on customs, import and export taxes. With a little guidance from company formation specialists, starting your import export business should be next to easy. There are some important steps to take to actualize this.
First, you have to decide exactly what you want to trade in. This goes a long way to decide the kind of license your business requires. If the products you wish to trade are diverse not closely related, you should settle for a general license. If you’re confused as to what you should be trading in, make sure to go through the range of products available on import/export and you’d definitely find one.
This should be done while bearing it in mind that the UAE has a few strict rules guiding the business names. Your chosen company name must not contain any offensive or blasphemous language or refer to any popular organization. If the business name has your personal name in it, you must make sure that is without abbreviations of any sort. Also, you must check to confirm that the name is still available to be registered.
When you’re done choosing a company name, you must decide where to setup the business on the mainland or in one of the free zones in the UAE. By nature of their proximity to major roads, seaports and airports, the free zones are the best to setup an import/export business. For example, the Fujairah Creative City is just 15 minutes away from Fujairah port which is the only port on the east coast of the UAE which makes it directly accessible from Africa and the Persian Gulf. Apart from these benefits already listed, free zones also offer 100% exemptions from all taxes and zero currency restrictions. The mainland offers you the freedom to trade directly with the local market, without need the services of a local agent.
The last step to finalize the whole process is getting the license. You can get your trading license either directly to the Department of Economic Development (DED) or municipality in your chosen emirate if you are planning to set up on the mainland, or to the authority in charge of the chosen free zone. A company formation expert can help you get this done if you wish so. The documents required to complete both processes are exactly the same. You will have to provide the following:
- Completed application form
- Passport copy of the proposed owner or owners
- Two color passport size photos with white background
To commence trading activities across borders, you must fulfill customs requirements. Customs requires you to have an import code given by the Federal Customs authority. To get your code, you must provide the following documents:
- A copy of your general trading license
- A copy of your passport
- Details of your trading activities
Speaking of visas, you might need to apply for visas for you and your employees. The visa scheme also allows you to sponsor your dependents for their visas. On this, you can get the perfect advice from company formation experts.
The cost of obtaining an import export license varies with the presence of many other factors. But a trade license in Fujairah Creative City costs AED 19,538. Also, a 5% tax comes in if your goods are brought in to be sold at the local market.
As explained above, the process to set up an import export business in the UAE is not too complex to understand. But it does require professional know-how to avoid pitfalls. This is why it is best advised for you to engage the services of company formation specialists such as Business Incorporation Zone (BIZ) to handle it all for you and let you do what you do best.
