Dubai Knowledge Park Free Zone: Everything You Need to Know

Thinking about starting a new business in Dubai? Well, you’re definitely on the right track. 

If you have a company dedicated to human resource management, training, and learning, you need to know about the Dubai Knowledge Park. The Dubai Knowledge Park is unique and the only one of its kind. It brings together international career advancement companies that allow business professionals and individuals to develop and grow their talents.

The Dubai Knowledge Park is the ideal place for a small company or a new business. Keep on reading to learn more about Dubai Knowledge Park and how you can set up a business in the Dubai Knowledge Park Free Zone.

What Is Dubai Knowledge Park?

As a business owner, you know the importance of training your employees. Training your employees can help: 

• Improve performance
• Increase engagement
• Increase employee retention
• Address internal skills

With all these benefits, the Dubai Knowledge Park was designed in 2003 as a unique training hub. It houses over 3000 professionals from over 100 nationalities. It’s an area dedicated to human resource management, personal development, and consultancy.

The Dubai Knowledge Park is over 12 million square meters located in the Dubai Technology and Media Free Zone in the southern part of the city. It houses some of the biggest universities and companies.

The Dubai Knowledge Park can help the needs of your business by offering training and skills development programs. Recruiters help match the needs of your business with professionals that have the right skillset. It’s a one-stop shop for your employee development needs.

What Is the Dubai Knowledge Park Free Zone?

If you set up a business in the Dubai Knowledge Park, you get access to the benefits of the Dubai Knowledge Park Free Zone. Free zones are economic areas where trade occurs with advantageous tax and customs rates. The purpose of the free zone is to encourage foreign direct investment into the UAE.

Free zones have the authority to enact their own laws and regulations. These free zone laws are very different from federal laws. 

What does that mean for you? That’s a great question. Some of the major benefits of a free zone are tax, repatriation, and ownership advantages.

Repatriation

In the free zone, you can repatriate 100% of your profits and capital. This means there are no limits on how much money you can transfer to your own country. For example, if your home country is the United States, you can transfer all of your profits and capital to the United States without restrictions.

Ownership

You can keep complete foreign ownership of your business. This used to be more of an exclusive free zone benefit back when the legislation required UAE nationals to own at least 51% of any company set up outside the free zone. Amendments in June 2021 allow individuals or corporations to establish companies in the UAE mainland without a local partner.  

Taxes

You also get the benefit of being completely exempt from all kinds of duties and taxes. This means no personal or corporate tax. In addition, you don’t pay customs duties for goods and services.

Remember that you still need to pay value-added taxes or VAT as of 2018 at a rate of 5%. Even in a free zone, you’ll need to register for VAT if your taxable supplies and imports exceed the minimum threshold of AED 375,000.

Why Is Dubai Knowledge Park Right for You?

As a new business, the tax advantages can help you achieve your profit goals sooner. But you need to know that the benefits of Dubai Knowledge Park are more than that. By setting up your business, you get access to state-of-the-art infrastructure and support services.

Visa Services

You can also check off that visa application from your to-do list because you can get access to hassle-free visa services.

Dubai Knowledge Park gives you access to axs, an integrated digital platform that can provide visas, licensing, and other services. In a global environment, you can have employees in all corners of the world. With axs, you can keep an eye on the bigger picture without worrying about the details.

Offices

With their top-of-the-line infrastructure and facilities, you can hit the ground running without having to worry about resources. Choose from a variety of managed, flexible, and strategically located offices to start your business. 

The choice of offices and infrastructure is especially important as a freelancer. With the option of cubicles or offices, you choose how you want to run your business. Dubai Knowledge Park is really designed for new and small businesses, including freelancers.

Community

If you choose to set up your business in the Dubai Knowledge Park, you can rest assured that it will be surrounded by well-known brands. You can be comfortable in the knowledge that top companies have chosen to operate in a similar manner. You will be part of a community that’s striving towards excellence in human resource management and learning.

What you’ll get is a community feel with access to health care facilities, sports facilities, restaurants, and gyms all within easy distance. You can be comfortable that no matter how late you work, you have access to everything you need around you.

Employees

You also get access to highly skilled human resources professionals. Your employees are your business. With the right team, your company can grow and develop at a much faster rate.

What Types of Activities Are Permitted in the Dubai Knowledge Park Free Zone?

What makes the Dubai Knowledge Park different is that it caters to certain permitted activities. As it is an area dedicated to employee training and consulting, the permitted activities centre around computer, language, child skills, or fine arts training. Other permitted activities include:

• Tutoring services
• Human resources consultancy
• Executive search
• Professional and management development training

You can also set up a business in the Dubai Knowledge Park if your business deals with other aspects of human resource management like assessment and testing and research and development. Freelancers or not-for-profit associations can also get a license to set up their business in the Dubai Knowledge Park Free Zone.

It’s best to work with a business setup consultant who can help you navigate the operational rules to make sure your business falls within the permitted activities. This is the first question that you will be asked on the application for the license, so you need to make sure you are comfortable with your response.

What Type of Companies Can Form in the Dubai Knowledge Park Free Zone?

If you meet the permitted activities, you can set up in the Dubai Knowledge Park Free Zone. The next question you need to decide on is what type of company should you form.

One of the more common forms to set up in the Dubai Knowledge Park is the Free Zone Limited Liability Company. It’s formed as a separate legal entity. You can have individual or corporate shareholders.

You can also consider setting up as a branch of a foreign company. It’s set up as an overseas office. If you choose this type, your branch will be dependent on the parent company.

Another aspect to consider is starting up as a freelance. As a freelance, you are your own boss. With freelance visas becoming more accessible and affordable, more and more people are choosing this option to set up their businesses. 

Why Is a Strong Infrastructure Important for Your Business?

Setting up a business is exciting, but you have to consider all the costs of setting up a new business. This can include USD 10,000 to USD 15,000 on business equipment, and 10% of your total budget for office equipment. 

Having the infrastructure support when starting up your business can help save you a lot of time, money, and effort. Rather than searching high and low for a business location that meets your needs, all you need to do is reach out to the Dubai Knowledge Park Business Centre and check out your options.

Dubai Knowledge Park Business Center

With the Dubai Knowledge Park Business Centre, you have a variety of office space options available for you, including:

• Hot desk or shared office space ideal for freelancers
• Single offices in a shared environment similar to a cubicle
• Executive offices
• Executive suites with a private reception, small meeting room and executive office

If you are a larger business that needs more space, you can use the commercial offices. Commercial offices are unfurnished floors or office spaces that are rented out to businesses. You can furnish it to suit your business needs.

Events and Venues

As a new business, you want to develop contacts around you and build your own business community. Dubai Knowledge Park does the work for you by holding events such as exhibitions, workshops, conferences and networking events.

If you are looking to hold an event, you also get access to venues that can make your life easier. Whether it’s a concert or a corporate event, you can find the right venue and operational support to make your event a success.

This kind of collaboration can take your business to the next level. Any sharing of ideas encourages a growth mindset and pushes you out of stagnant group thinking.

Entertainment and Fitness

Meeting clients or just stepping out for lunch? You can find a variety of cafes and restaurants that cater to your taste.

With traffic and weather, you don’t want to spend hours on lunch. Luckily, you don’t need to. You can make a smooth transition from work to a business lunch to a work meeting because of the proximity of the cafes and restaurants around you.

Your health and your employee’s health should be your priority. This is why Dubai Knowledge Park offers yoga studios and gyms nearby so you can work to build your business and stay fit at the same time. Remember healthier employees are more productive and less likely to call in sick. 

You also get access to health care and wellness facilities, so you can prioritize your health and the health of your employees. There are dental clinics, beauty salons, and child care nursery centres for your health and family needs.

How to Set Up a Business in Dubai Knowledge Park Free Zone?

To set up your business in the Dubai Knowledge Park, you need to apply for a license by submitting the right paperwork:

• Identify the legal form of your corporation
• Choose your permitted activity of the business
• Apply for the name application form
• Apply for the name and initial approval
• Confirmation of fee payment
• Sign the Memorandum and Articles of Association (AOA) and other registration and incorporation documents
• Apply for your Dubai Knowledge Park residence visa

It takes about 4 to 6 weeks to obtain a license and register the company. Rather than muddling through all paperwork on your own, simply contact a business set-up consultant in Dubai. The right experts can make the whole process simple and easy.

You have a hundred other topics on your mind. Applying for a license in the Dubai Knowledge Park should not be one of those stressors.

Set Up Your New Business in the Dubai Knowledge Park Today

Now, you know all of the benefits of setting up a business in the Dubai Knowledge Park Free Zone. You can take advantage of the tax benefits of setting up in a free zone while being exempted from personal tax, corporate tax and customs duties.

Setting up a business in Dubai can get complicated, from finalizing the company name to processing visa applications and opening bank accounts. Our business setup consultants have helped more than 60,000 entrepreneurs from over 180 countries with their business setup. Contact us today to set up your business in the Dubai Knowledge Park.