Setup guide
How to start a logistics or freight company in the UAE
Logistics needs a commercial licence, and the jurisdiction decision is governed almost entirely by port and airport adjacency. Freight forwarding, warehousing, customs clearance and transport are four separate activities — most firms need more than one.
What it costs
The cost drivers for this trade.
The UAE logistics market is roughly USD 65bn in 2025, forecast to about USD 112bn by 2035. Jebel Ali handled 15.5m TEU in 2024, road freight is about 46% of the market and Dubai about 39% of national activity.
Figures on this page
UAE logistics market estimated around USD 65bn in 2025, forecast to roughly USD 112bn by 2035 (5.5% CAGR). Jebel Ali handled 15.5 million TEU in 2024. Road freight accounts for about 46% of the market and Dubai for about 39%.
Market research aggregates and DP World reporting, 2024–25
How the business makes money here
A margin business on other people's cargo, with rate transparency compressing the spread and credit exposure to shippers as the primary risk. Volume commitments improve buy rates, which is why scale matters disproportionately.
What it costs to start
Published "from" prices compare licence fees and ignore everything that actually moves the total. These are the variables that decide what a logistics & warehousing business pays in year one.
- Warehousing
- The dominant cost. Rates differ by multiples between Jebel Ali, SAIF Zone and RAKEZ for comparable space.
- Customs brokerage
- A separate registration from the trade licence, with its own requirements.
- Fleet
- Owned vehicles bring emirate transport authority approvals — RTA in Dubai, ITC in Abu Dhabi — and their own permits.
- Visa quota
- Warehouse operations scale visa allocation with leased area, which is why logistics firms rarely hit the caps that trouble office businesses.
We quote a single all-in figure with every government fee itemised beside our own, before you commit. Ranges published anywhere — including here — are indicative.
Why here
Regional advantages
Best-in-class infrastructure
Two major cargo airports and the largest container port between Singapore and Rotterdam.
Free zone customs suspension
Goods enter, consolidate and leave without duty, which makes re-export operations efficient.
Wide cost range between emirates
Warehousing in Sharjah or RAK costs a fraction of Jebel Ali for many operations.
And the other side
Regional disadvantages
Rate transparency compresses margin
Digital freight platforms made buy rates visible. Price differentiation is not available.
Credit exposure
You pay carriers before shippers pay you. Credit control is existential for small forwarders.
Four separate activities
Forwarding, warehousing, clearance and transport are distinct licences and quoting across them on one is a liability.
Approvals
Beyond the trade licence.
- Land transport
- The emirate transport authority — RTA in Dubai, ITC in Abu Dhabi — for owned fleet operations.
- Customs brokerage
- A separate customs broker registration, distinct from the trade licence.
- Cold chain
- Municipality approval where food or pharmaceutical storage is involved.
The sequence
How the setup runs.
Confirm the activity and the licence category
Map what you actually do onto the authority's activity schedule and identify any external approval it triggers, before a name is reserved or a fee is paid.
Choose the jurisdiction
Free zone or mainland, decided by who receives your invoices — then narrowed by visa quota, premises need and cost.
Reserve the trade name and obtain initial approval
Three candidate names checked against the register and the naming rules, then initial approval confirming no objection to you owning this business.
Prepare and notarise the incorporation documents
Memorandum of association, shareholder resolutions, attestations where required, and a power of attorney if you are not in the country.
Take the licence, establishment card and immigration file
The company now exists, can contract and can sponsor residence visas.
Complete residence, banking and registrations
Medical and Emirates ID, corporate bank account, corporate tax registration and any VAT, ESR or UBO obligation the structure carries.
Shortlist
Where to license it.
Four worth looking at for this activity, and why each one is on the list. All 11 are in the finder.
Questions
A commercial licence naming freight forwarding is the base requirement. Customs brokerage is a separate registration, and operating your own vehicle fleet requires emirate transport authority approval on top.
JAFZA if goods move through Jebel Ali, KEZAD for Khalifa Port and Abu Dhabi land prices, Dubai South for air cargo and e-commerce fulfilment, SAIF Zone when cost matters more than adjacency.
Moving goods domestically is a mainland transport activity. Free zone logistics companies routinely handle the international leg and appoint a mainland partner for domestic distribution.
One question
Who will be paying your invoices?
Textbook free zone. Re-export through JAFZA, SAIF or KEZAD without the goods entering the domestic market is exactly what customs suspension was designed for, and the duty saving is real.
Compare the two routesOr just ask usDomestic distribution and last-mile delivery are mainland transport activities requiring emirate transport authority permits. A free zone licence covers the international leg and stops at the zone gate.
Compare the two routesOr just ask usMost forwarders end up with both — a free zone entity for the international movement and a mainland partner or branch for domestic distribution. Structuring that deliberately beats discovering it.
Answer five questions insteadOr just ask us