BUSINESS SETUP · MAINLAND
Mainland, for when your customers are here
A mainland licence is the route when you sell to the UAE itself: retail, government contracts, local clients. It costs more than a free zone for one structural reason, and it is worth it for one structural reason. They are the same reason: presence.
OWNERSHIP
Ownership after the 2021 reform.
The blanket 51% Emirati ownership requirement was removed for most commercial and industrial activities. Activities on the strategic impact list remain restricted.
Professional sole establishments still commonly involve a Local Service Agent, an Emirati paid an annual fee with no equity, though the LLC route now gives many professionals 100% ownership.
Confirmed
THE OFFICE
The office is the cost.
Mainland requires a physical office with Ejari registration, and the office drives the visa quota at roughly one visa per nine square metres.
This is why mainland runs at roughly AED 90,000 to 110,000 over three years against AED 55,000 to 70,000 for a mid-cost free zone.
Indicative
The three-year costWHAT YOU GET
What you get for it.
The domestic market, directly
You trade with UAE customers without routing through a distributor or a service agent taking a margin.
Retail anywhere
A shop, a clinic, a restaurant, a showroom: mainland is the only structure that puts you on the street.
Government tenders
Public bodies contract with mainland entities. A free zone licence is usually filtered out before the bid is read.
A structure banks read as substantial
An Ejari office, local invoices and local staff answer the substance question before it is asked.
THE DECISION
Mainland or free zone.
If your customers are UAE residents, companies or government bodies, take mainland.
If your customers are abroad and you need a licence, visas and a bank account, take a free zone.
If you are unsure, price both over three years rather than year one, because that is where the two structures separate.
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