What Business to Open in Dubai?

Dubai is, probably, the best place to do business in the Middle East. The United Arab Emirates (and its most prominent emirate Dubai) is among the fastest developing economies. This is a paradise for business and the best place for foreign investment.

Huge profits of the population create demand for different goods and services. A developed transport infrastructure (seaports, roads, airports) simplify doing business here. Additionally, government policy favors foreigners who’d like to open a business in UAE and, especially, in Dubai, a huge megapolis which continues to evolve for the third decade in a row.

Government policy made a bet on the diversification of the economy and encouraged any kind of business unrelated to gas and oil production.

UAE is an important trading center on the Arabian Peninsula and one of the most important players in the Persian Gulf region. Let’s look closely on this topic and decide which business in Dubai is most profitable.

Real Estate

Real estate in UAE and Dubai is a world in itself. Development here not only never stops but is actively expanding all the time, attracting more and more investment. Tourism is one of the main profit sources of the country. Tens of millions of tourists annually come here to visit. They all need to live somewhere.

Due to that new hotels, residential highrises, business centers, villas, townhouses, and apartments are developing here on a monthly basis. Developers work with any brokerage firms as long as those bring them clients and profit. Tens of thousands of foreign real estate companies are registered in Dubai. It is possible that this is the most profitable business in Emirates.

The easiest way is investing in apartments (for example, the offplan project The Orchard Place) in Dubai, and generate income from renting or resale.

Services     

Citizens of Dubai are very rich. UAE occupies 8th place in the world by the level of GDP per capita. Due to the fact that goods and services of premium class here is a norm and people are ready to pay for them. People from all around the world come to provide all kinds of services. Here’s a list of just some of them:

• Teachers
• Nannies and maids
• IT specialists
• Interpreters
• Drivers
• Salespersons
• Construction workers
• Engineers
• Photographers
• Barbers
• Cookers and waiters
• Couriers, security workers
• Managers of all kinds
• Culture employees

And many, many others. Every industry may have its own company. There’s always high demand for all types of specialists and the clients have a lot of money to spend. Tourists create additional demand for goods and services. In the end everybody wins.

To do business in free economic zones (freehold zones) in UAE one needs a license. It is different for every kind of industry and each zone may allow different kinds of economic activity. A license should be paid for once every year. Here’s a rough price of some of the licenses:

Goods

If you think of opening a business in the UAE, there’s a list of products that are always in high demand. Restaurants need products of high quality. Hotels need bedsheets. Constant development needs materials and instruments. Here’s a very incomplete list of some of them:

• Meat, cheese, alcohol
• Fruits and vegetables
• Potatoes and grain
• Instruments and devices
• Bathroom appliances
• Clothes and textile
• Construction materials
• Small household goods

UAE exports oil and gas but imports everything that it can’t produce on its own, including many types of grain and food which simply cannot be produced in hot and dry desert climate.

Selling and buying goods means they need logistics and channels of distribution and storage.

Many economic spheres and even whole industries on the market are presented by foreign companies. Government creates perfect conditions for them to operate freely. That includes pleasant tax policies, the absence of bureaucracy, transparency and generally favorable attitude which encourages people to open business in Dubai. Which business to choose is up to you.