DWTC

Overview

Dubai World Trade Centre is a free zone attached to the exhibition and conference district. It has a particular place in the history of this practice area: it hosted Dubai's earliest virtual-asset licensing arrangements before the Emirate-wide regime was established.

What the licence does, and does not do

A free-zone licence does three things: it incorporates the company, it permits the activities printed on it, and it supports residence visas against the office arrangement.

It does not authorise a regulated virtual-asset activity. That is the single most expensive misunderstanding in this market, and it is usually discovered after the office has been leased and the visas issued.

Virtual-asset activity from a DWTC company falls inside VARA's perimeter and requires a VARA licence in addition to the zone licence.

Activities

Events, media, technology, trading and professional services, with digital-asset activity available.

DWTC is a natural fit for businesses whose centre of gravity is the events and conference circuit, which in this sector is a larger share than it first appears.

Substance and cost

Licence and renewal, company registration, establishment card, an office arrangement ranging from a flexi-desk to dedicated premises, and a visa quota tied to that office. Indicative amounts are listed below and are not yet verified.

Note that a flexi-desk sufficient for the zone may be insufficient for the regulator. Where a virtual-asset licence is in contemplation, the substance required by the regulator should drive the office decision, not the other way round.

How we help

We choose the zone on the activity the business actually needs, not on the headline package price. We incorporate, run the attestation chain for foreign shareholder documents, and sequence the zone licence against the regulatory application so the company is not paying rent on a licence it cannot yet use.