As anybody who is starting a business in UAE will tell you, free zones are highly lucrative gold mines! With a plethora of free zones cropping up within UAE, The UAQ free zone is a relatively new addition, and one that we are absolutely hooked on. Situated in the emirate of Umm Al Quwain, this free zone offers all the right incentives, such as offering a complete export and import tax exemption within the free zone, zero currency restrictions, a complete repatriation of profits and capitals, 100% company ownership, and next to nothing personal and corporate tax- in short, the complete range of benefits associated with all the free zones in UAE.

While contemporary management and flexible licensing results have raised this free zone in the eyes of foreign investors, there are a lot more reasons why entrepreneurs should be looking towards Umm Al Quwain for kick-starting their ventures. Reasons that you might not even know of!

1. Hassle-Free Incorporation Process

Entrepreneurs who choose to set up shop in Umm Al Quwain are not entitled by law to provide attestation for shareholders and owners or details of shareholder experience, neither are they obliged to put forward any share capital. Not to mention, entrepreneurs who dread the very word “audit”, and break out in cold sweat whenever somebody mentions it, can greatly benefit from making UAQ their home, since annual audit is not required in UAQ! You’ll be completely exempted from the hassle of an audit, which is a mildly panic-inducing and sometimes even a downright laborious task.

Nevertheless, you will still need to keep current and to-date accounts. Since you don’t need to present a formal business plan, the incorporation process doesn’t revolve around arduous paperwork.

2. A Wide Array of License Options

What makes UAQ seem like such an enticing and lucrative proposition to entrepreneurs seeking to set up a business in UAE, is the level of choices available to them when it comes to licensing. Umm al Quwain offers a wide array of licenses to aspiring entrepreneurs, such as freelance / micro, service, industrial consultancy, and commercial business.

With a commercial license, your business would be allowed to store, export, and import goods, especially for trade and sale outside the UAE or in other free zones within. If you want to locally trade within the UAE, you need a reliable third-party distributor to outsource this work to.

3. Strategic Location

The biggest selling point of Umm Al Quwain Free Zone is indubitably its stellar location. The greatest part is that the area benefits from cheap costs of both labor and living, in addition to being blessed with a perfect location which enables it to tap into a staggering market across the North Africa and Middle East region, and the European, Far East, and subcontinent markets.

Not to mention, being located just off the Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed and E11 road, it promises easy access to Sharjah International Airport and Dubai International Airport, both of which are a mere hour’s drive away! From UAQ, entrepreneurs also enjoy hassle-free access to the city of Dubai. The UAQ free zone also enjoys access to some of the main sea ports of UAE.

4. Great for Solo Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses

Solo entrepreneurs and SMEs operating on a shoestring budget can glean many benefits from operating in the UAQ free zone. Licenses can be issued even if the entrepreneur in question is not in UAE at that time. Similarly, it is only a matter of time before licenses can be easily turned around- saving both money and time. If you are finding it hard to believe your eyes, there’s more. As the UAQ free zone issues micro business licenses and freelance permits, without the presence of the entrepreneur and at relatively little cost, entrepreneurs need not fret over the initial expenses of kick-starting a company, renting out a viable workspace, and applying for a pertinent business license.

Not to mention, if you aspire to set up a business on the side while still in employment, The UAQ Free zone pardons you from procuring an NOC document from your current employer or sponsor. If you have only gleaned a freelance permit in the beginning, it can be easily upgraded as you grow your business. The many benefits afforded to free zone companies in the UAQ free zone, offer aspiring business men an amazing foot in the door!

Further Read: 7 Steps Entrepreneurs Guide for building a Successful Digital Marketing Strategy

5. Easy and Fast Setup

What entrepreneurs find most alluring about the Umm Al Quwain Free Zone, is the ease and pace at which their dreams can be realized and turned into profitable ventures.

Not only do business men have the opportunity of launching a business here without even being present anywhere in UAE, but company formation in the UAQ free zone can be completed in mere 2-3 days in most cases. There are not many places around the globe where entrepreneurs can even dream about setting up shop in such a short duration.

6. Wide Variety Of Company Activities

This includes Oil and Gas Consultancy, Travel Consultancy, Financial Consultancy, Legal Consultancy, Real Estate Consultancy, and many others. The Umm Al Quwain Free Zone doesn’t entail you to procure supplementary agreements from UAE authorities when it comes to establishing a company of such nature. Due to these amazing reasons, the UAQ free zone has become so popular with entrepreneurs.

7. No Visa Package

Perhaps the great benefit of the UAQ free zone is that it allows you to set up a company and apply for a license, without needing a visa. This option caters best for small businesses or solopreneurs who do not need a permanent physical presence anywhere in the UAE, and wish to start small with a low capital. Since entrepreneurs are not required to wait on the visa process before they can be deemed privileged enough to start trading, they can set up a business in Umm Al Quwain in record timings.

8. Open To a Plethora of Sectors

Do you know about extolling the virtues of sector-specific free zones? If not, now is the time to learn. After all, there are a lot of benefits of working in an environment where you are surrounded by a plethora of field experts in your niche. While people are generally of the opinion that setting up a business in a free zone which is a hub of businesses from many industries is a bad thing, research will tell you otherwise!