Comparison
KEZAD vs JAFZA
Khalifa Economic Zones Abu Dhabi against Jebel Ali Free Zone. The specifications side by side, what each actually costs, how banks receive them, and a straight answer about which suits which business.
Side by side
| Criterion | KEZAD | JAFZA |
|---|---|---|
| Emirate | Abu Dhabi | Dubai |
| Type | Free zone | Free zone |
| Location | Khalifa Port / Musaffah | Jebel Ali Port |
| Licence issuance | 3–6 weeks | 2–4 weeks |
| Residence visas | Scales with leased space; worker accommodation on site | Scales with leased space — the highest ceilings in Dubai |
| Ownership | 100% foreign | 100% foreign |
| Premises | Land plots, warehouses, pre-built factories, labour villages | Warehouses, plots, offices, on-site staff accommodation |
| Commonly licensed | Manufacturing & industrial, Logistics & warehousing, Energy, oil & gas, Trading & distribution | Logistics & warehousing, Manufacturing & industrial, Trading & distribution, Shipping & maritime |
Timelines and quotas are indicative and revised by the authorities without notice.
Straight answer
Which one?
The industrial land question. KEZAD offers serviced plots beside Khalifa Port at prices Dubai stopped offering years ago, with build obligations attached. JAFZA is more expensive but sits in the larger port with deeper logistics infrastructure and a shorter road to Dubai's customer base. New manufacturing capacity: KEZAD. Distribution into the Dubai market: JAFZA.
What each actually costs
KEZAD
Serviced industrial land and pre-built factories at rates Dubai stopped offering, with build obligations and minimum plot sizes attached.
JAFZA
Priced for cargo. Warehousing, plots and offices are at the premium end of UAE industrial space, and the value is in the port adjacency rather than the rate.
How banks receive them
KEZAD
Straightforward for genuine industrial operations with visible activity.
JAFZA
Straightforward. JAFZA is long established and banks understand the trade flows of its tenants.
Who is based in each
KEZAD
Manufacturers, petrochemical and metals processing, food production, pharmaceutical manufacturing and port-adjacent logistics.
Where to go when Dubai's industrial land is either full or priced as though it were. Serviced plots beside a deep-water port, gas and power at industrial rates, and on-site accommodation for a workforce.
JAFZA
Shipping lines, freight forwarders, distributors, manufacturers, oil and gas supply chain and the regional distribution arms of multinationals. Roughly 10,000 companies.
The oldest free zone in the UAE and still the one that matters if goods physically move. It sits inside the largest container port between Singapore and Rotterdam, connects to Al Maktoum airport, and can house your workforce on site. Nothing else in Dubai does all three.
Activities
Questions
KEZAD: Serviced industrial land and pre-built factories at rates Dubai stopped offering, with build obligations and minimum plot sizes attached. JAFZA: Priced for cargo. Warehousing, plots and offices are at the premium end of UAE industrial space, and the value is in the port adjacency rather than the rate.
KEZAD — straightforward for genuine industrial operations with visible activity. JAFZA — straightforward. JAFZA is long established and banks understand the trade flows of its tenants.
KEZAD hosts manufacturers, petrochemical and metals processing, food production, pharmaceutical manufacturing and port-adjacent logistics. JAFZA hosts shipping lines, freight forwarders, distributors, manufacturers, oil and gas supply chain and the regional distribution arms of multinationals. Roughly 10,000 companies.