Sharjah is considered by the UAE to be one of the most established Emirates. Its strategic location enables numerous emirate trading operations, creating significant opportunities for investors from all around the country. Sharjah's rate of growth is incredible. Big projects are being initiated every day, and the number of companies being launched is growing steadily.
Sharjah has made progress in trade, tourism, the scope of its community, and infrastructure due to its government's policy focused on economic diversification and awareness of the opportunities to be offered to an investor. An organization's different investments would help local businesses and the area's citizens make business setup in Sharjah a feasible idea for any investor.
Free Zones in Sharjah
There are five free zones in Sharjah:
- Hamriyah Free Zone
This free zone is one of the suitable alternatives in Sharjah. It is on track to become the critical aspect of industrial development in the UAE. Hamriyah Free Zone has provided investors with incentives and unique opportunities to develop a company in a tax-free state.
- Sharjah Airport International Free Zone
SAIF zone in Sharjah offers business opportunities attractive to entrepreneurs and investors. The free area is regarded as a metaphor for production operations and a cheaper alternative for establishing a business in the UAE’s free zone.
- USARTC Free Zone
USARTC Free Zone was created in 2011 as part of Sharjah's goal of promoting Sharjah as a center for foreign business and turning it into an investment-led economy.
- Sharjah Publishing City Free Zone
The book authority of Sharjah governs this free zone. SPC free zone for book traders acts as an ethnic center. It offers company groups and investors a wide array of advantages.
- Sharjah Media City Free Zone
Sharjah Media City, or Shams, was set up in the year 2017 with a vision of being a media and innovation center of world-class in the region.
Kinds of Licenses in Sharjah Free Zone
The establishment of business in the UAE requires a valid business license. To obtain Sharjah, one must focus on the form of corporate activity to be carried out in the area, as the business operation determines the number of licenses needed. There are mainly three kinds of permits provided in Sharjah Free Zone:
1. Commercial license
This type of claim is provided for companies engaged in the commercialization or purchase and sale of goods. If you choose a business operation classified as a business activity, the free zone regulators will issue you with a commercial license. Transportations, car rental, and real estate services can be classified as a business activity.
2. Trading license
The trading license is provided to the companies involved in production and manufacturing. To have this license, you must have a physical office in the country. It encompasses activities such as agricultural goods processing, metal framing, furniture producers, and packaging.
3. Professional License
A professional license is given to the companies offering services. They may be service providers, technicians, craftspeople, and artisans and cover consultant management, law firms, audit and accounting companies, educational facilities, and medical services.
How to Establish a Business in the Sharjah Free Zone?
The process of starting a Sharjah free zone company can be comfortable and make a proper plan. The steps involved are research, accurate decision making, and following the laws and regulations. Apart from that, you must follow the following steps:
- Understand your business and decide on the ideal free zone for the same
- Prepare the company to set up a plan.
- Select a company name and reserve it with the required free zone
- Finalization of appropriate infrastructural set-up
- Estimate the workforce needed for the company
- Depositing into the bank account the minimum capital sum required by the authorities
- Completing the approval process and the licensing process
- Completing business setup procedures by having an individual shareholder, corporate shareholder, or both, in the availability of free zone authorities, to register the company's incorporation documents.
Procedure to Obtain a Sharjah Free Zone License
Companies incorporated in free zones are regulated by the laws of the relevant free zones. You have to have relevant supporting documents to get the requisite approval. The list varies according to the type of company. Below are the general instructions for the measures and documentation required to obtain your free zone business license in Sharjah.
1. Initial approval
To obtain the initial clearance, you must have the following documents:
- Complete application form
- Business plan
- Copy of a valid trade license/certificate of incorporation (if you are an established company, relevant only to the local company)
- Colored passport copies of the shareholders of the company and designated new business manager/director
- Specimen signature of the company's shareholders and the leader/director appointed for the new company
- Two years audited financial statements for a corporate body or a certificate of approval from the specific shareholder's bank account
- NOC from new (individual) sponsor
- Unit title deed
- Letter of acknowledgment
- For Manager / Director Registry Identification Code Form (RIC) (Original and authenticated)
2. Registering
After you get initial approval, the next process is to pay the required fees and register your company. The cost depends on what form of license you need. The following are the documents:
- completed approval for registration
- Board resolution authorizing director/manager (Notarized and certified)
- Power of Attorney (Notarized and certified) given to Manager / Director
- Memorandum of Association and Articles (Notarized and verified)
- Manager / Director Specimen Signature (Notarized and validated)
- Passport-size photo of the manager/director in white
- Share capital data
3. Licensing and Visa Procedure
In the process:
- The authority shall be obtained up lease agreements
- Then they will provide a trade license
- Visa processing begins
Why Set Up a Business in the Sharjah Free Zone?
Sharjah's liberal economic policies and legal structure, urban culture, and business-friendly company laws drive business enterprises and industries to the Emirates to take advantage of investment opportunities. Sharjah Free zone business development boasts UAE government subsidies and amenities from unrivaled investors.
Sharjah Free Zone setup costs are relatively liberal compared to the other free zones in the UAE, and function as the most cost-effective option. The free zones also offer cheap land and human resources, as well as incentives for SMEs. Comparison to the rest and the 24-hour licensing services, they have a relatively sophisticated infrastructure to allow fast business set-up for individuals. There are also less accounting and auditing standards, a relief to the firms setting up a business in Sharjah Free Zone.
There are many benefits to start a company in Sharjah.
Benefits of Setting Up a Business in Sharjah Free Zone
- Capital and tax repatriation of 100 percent
- Foreign ownership at 100 percent
- Transfer of money 100 percent free
- Abundant, low-cost electricity supply
- No currency constraints
- 100% Outlay on foreign trade
- Excluding income tax
- With minimal financial planning, 100 percent privacy
- Licensing service is accessible 24 hours a day
- Cheaper lease agreements
- Low-cost job and warehouse facilities
- Large ports and Sharjah International Airport are easy to reach
The free zones in Sharjah's emirate serve as havens for businesses and budding entrepreneurs worldwide. Everyone has its own set of benefits, and Sharjah's massive push for foreign investment has helped boost the emirate economy and secure business from foreign investors. Sharjah is looking to a successful career with these free zones, and it is predicted that Sharjah will become one of the most desirable places in the Middle East to set up a free zone.
The emirate government has initiatives for yet another free zone in the Sharjah pipeline. It is an indicator of the potential prospects that the emirate will bring to the numerous investors and an improvement in the emirate’s economy.
Establishing an emirate company can be an incredibly complicated process. At these times, a business management consultant can direct you through the whole company set-up process.
"Commitbiz" is one such business setup company that can ensure that the business can reap the benefits of all the incentives and become one of the industry's top companies. "Commitbiz" has several other services to know about them all; contact us – we’d be happy to support you.
