Dubai

I see a lot of places on the internet suggesting Dubai as a great place to form an offshore company, but most people don't know that there is a better alternative in the United Arab Emirates. Although Dubai has a very stable economic system and is one of the richest places on the face of the Earth, it doesn't serve the great purpose as an offshore as it used to.

In order to to start a company in Dubai it is necessary for the director of the company in mind, to go to Dubai and the incorporation process may take longer than the usual time to incorporate in other counties. This is why I recommend another Emirate instead - RAK (Ras Al Khaimah).
The international business law called Ras Al Khaimah Free Trade Zone took place in 2000 it started to gain some popularity world wide only after 2007 to 2009, when finally RAK had international trade offices at least in some major parts of the world. This may be one of the reasons why international business companies in RAK are so unknown to the world till this day. The benefits in RAK stickily outweigh the benefits for company formation in Dubai. Thus if I where to recommend any of the two emirates in the UAE for an offshore company formation, the one of choice would definitely have to be RAK.

Dubai is an emirate and a city at the same time, the most popular city in the United Arab emirates. Being one of the seven emirates, its one of the most economical importance in the whole country on par with Abu Dhabi. In the recent years Dubai has grown to be one of the global cities and a central economical and cultural hub of the middle east.

Economy

In the beginning the economy of Dubai was built on the back of the oil industry. Now days the income from sales of oil only account for less than 7% of the current economy. The oil reserves of Dubai have been dwindling in the past years and are expected to be exhausted in the following 20 years. The majority of the economy is built around the construction of real estate and sales of it. But only at that it only accounts for a bit more that 20% of all economical income. Some more notable areas of income:

• Trade of goods, stock and other valuable items account for around 16%
• Import and export of goods free of tax account for 15%
• Financial services account for 11% of the economy

These are the major economical industries of the emirate. As with any economic structure Dubai has more areas of income, but these are smaller and are not notable.

Architecture 

The skyline of the city is amazing. Since the major part of the economy is building and sales of real estate, many of the world most beautiful buildings can be found there. Ranging from the worlds tallest man made structure - Burj Khalifa, and the worlds only seven star hotel  - Burij Al Arab. And to that we may also add the Palm islands - large man made islands in the shapes of palm trees. 

Incorporation 

Although it is possible to incorporate in Dubai, I would recommend another emirate in this case. The particular emirate in question is Ras Al Khaimah (RAK for short). The law for company formation in RAK offers far greater advantages over incorporation in Dubai. For those who still may want to incorporate in Dubai I shall name some facts: 

• The type of a company that usually gets incorporated is IBC(International business company)
• There are no taxes for companies that doesn't engage in banking or oil trade 
• A local registered office and an agent is necessary, although the director may reside anywhere in the world and the board meetings of the company may take place anywhere.
• No annual reports must be issued, only it is advised to keep them in company records.