DUBAIBY RENE WATSON

THE BUSINESS HUB OF THE MIDDLE EAST

The Emirate of Dubai, often times re-ferred to as “The City of Gold” has by farbecome the logical place to do businessin the Middle East. Dubai has trans-formed itself into THE destination forstate-of-the-art infrastructure and world-class business practices the world over.With over 2 million people living withinits ultra-modern, indulgent, cosmopoli-tan metropolis, Dubai is the secondlargest of the seven United Arab Emi-rates. For all those fortunate individualswho have the opportunity to live in thisabundant Persian Gulf region, truly doenjoy and take advantage of this fullyemerged, self-sustaining world economy.Dubai has grown steadily to become aglobally recognized economic examplefor the entire Middle East and beyond.With only a few hours of travel betweenhalf of the world’s population, Dubai hasbecome a natural crossroads between

cultures and stands to remain a force to be reckoned with forthe foreseeable future.

The Persian Gulf Coast has been a central hub for tradingsince the early 19th century, from the Persian Royal Road tothe Han Dynasty’s Silk Road, the United Arab Emirates hasnow become THE central proving ground in the Middle Eastfor the ever-changing dynamic of economic growth in the re-gion and around the globe. People of all nations come tonot only create new business enterprise, but to share and de-velop new ideas, friendships and of course, to enjoy the manyfacets that the UAE has to offer.

There are several advantages of doing business in Dubai.First and foremost, setting up a business entity in the UAE isundoubtedly important as their rules and regulations are

clear cut and firmly established, since the United Arab Emi-rate laws have designated several guidelines for foreign enti-ties interested in establishing a presence in the UAE.Secondly, it is paramount to note that each company estab-lished in the region, MUST have one or more UAE nationalpartner(s) who hold at least 51% of the company’s capital.In contract, there are exceptions to this rule, to include com-panies established in free zones that have special provisionsregulating that company, although free zone companies mustoperate within the boundaries of its free zone.

Dubai’s economic success is found within its favorable entre-preneurial climate. They have created lucrative tax and busi-ness incentives in over 20 mega free zones that cater tovarious industrial and business groups where investors cantake advantage of huge incentives. Dubai Media City, for

example is a leading free zone focusedon promoting advertising and media inthe Middle East. Just a few of the ad-vantages of setting up business in DubaiFree Zones are 100% business owner-ship, no income tax, and no currency re-strictions. Free zones offer a plethora ofservices for investors such as opportuni-ties to lease land for development, trans-portation links by sea, air or land,including on-site personnel to handleday to day operations.

Dubai has truly transformed itself from alocal trading community into one of themost exciting, influential and forward-thinking cities for business and pleasurein the entire world. It has a diverse andgrowing economy, with a quality oflifestyle and culture of excellence thatsimply cannot be matched. Dubai offersluxurious international business flair andhas emerged as one of the most signifi-cant interconnected cities in the world.