Set to become the world’s largest and leading global business, trade and aviation hub, Dubai South is an advantageous free zone with many benefits.  Following up on our previous article, in this post we will go in detail about the several types of licenses Dubai South has to offer.

Commercial Licence:

The first type of license offered at Dubai South is a commercial license allowing companies to carry out specific commercial services.  These are subdivided into general trading and logistics.

Trading license:

This license is perfect for companies that want to import, export, sell and/or distribute goods.  It is also suitable for businesses that want to sell products within the UAE market through a local distributor.  With the exception of some special products, this license allows trading, import, export and re-export of almost all types of products.

Logistics License:

This license lets a company perform activities and businesses related to logistics and freight forwarding.  Activities include storage, transportation, sorting, distribution, forwarding and clearing activities, inventory management, order management, and more.  The company can pick up and deliver products, but not sell products within the UAE.

Service License:

A service license also known as a consultancy license, allows professionals to provide their services within Dubai South as well as elsewhere in the UAE.  Companies can register to have consultancies in various fields such as management, marketing and IT.   This license is especially suitable for businesses supporting the logistics industry and includes services in software, training and repair.

Industrial license

An industrial license allows businesses to carry out certain light manufacturing activities, including assembling, processing, packing and repacking of goods.  There are certain limitations, for example, the manufacturing cannot cause noise pollution.   An Environment Impact Assessment has to be carried out and approved by Dubai Municipality before the license can be issued.

Education Licence

This type of license allows the license holder to provide educational and social services, educational aid training and educational consultancy services.  More specifically, one can run educational and training institutes, schools, kindergarten and social service companies.

If you would like to know about Dubai South and the Cost of Setting up a Business in this free zone, you can read our article “Company Formation Costs in Dubai South (DWC) Free Zone”.