UAE To Promote 'Granting Of Citizenship' To Companies

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times)

The Ministry of Economy and Tourism will“promote granting of UAE citizenship” to existing and new companies to be established in the country, the Ministry of Economy and Tourism said on Tuesday.

This decision is taken to conslidate identity and economic reputation, support national brands and facilitate acess to market for the UAE-based companies, owned by local and foreigners.

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Under this framework, companies will gain certain privileges by registering and establishing in the UAE and benefit from initiatives like the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement that the Emirates has signed with other countries, as well as ease of doing business and access to global markets from the UAE.

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“There are a lot of those kinds of aspects and incentives for UAE companies. It's not just in the UAE, but the advantages are global. If you open a company in Germany, you're a German company. If you own a company in the UK, you're a UK company. Same here. If you open a company here, you're a UAE company. That's the kind of methodology behind granting UAE citizenship to companies,” said Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy and Tourism.

During the media briefing about Commercial Companies Law, the minister clarified that it is not related to granting citizenship to investors and owners of companies.

Recently, the ministry also launched Geographical Indication initiative to protect and promote indigenous products in the local and internaitonal market. The products included Hatta honey, Dabas dates from Al Dhafra, Ras Al Khaimah ceramics among others.

The UAE added 250,000 new companies in 2025, taking the total to over 1.4 million, a growth of 118.7 per cent in four years.

Highlighting the phenomenal growth of companies over the years, he said giving 100 per cent ownership to companies in 2021 and the launch of the Golden Visa regime were the two most important factors to attract new companies into the country.

“When you offer a Golden Visa, it gives a huge opportunity for investors to come and invest in great companies. The UAE, for the last five decades, have invested so much into infrastructure, from airports, hotels, conferences, leisure and luxury tourism. So there are a lot of people who come in and really enjoys to be in the UAE. We have achieved numbers such as 30 million tourists last year, the highest globally. They were quality tourists who liked to come and spend the amount,” he said.

This was announced by the UAE minister during a media briefing held to shed light on the Federal Decree-Law No. (20) of 2025 amending certain provisions of Federal Decree-Law No. (32) of 2021 concerning commercial companies. Attending the briefing.

Lock-in period reduced

Under the new amendments, the lock-in period has been reduced for private joint stock companies from two years to one year, with the possibility of further reduction by ministerial decision. They are also exempt from this lock-in period when undertaking a private placement in financial markets, enhancing their ability to obtain financing and attract investment.

In addition, there have been also many other new laws and amendments have been introduced including drag-along and tag-along options; establishment of non-profit commercial companies; allowing free zone companies and financial free zone entities to carry out their activities across the country through branches and representative offices; and allowing any firm to switch from one legal form to another while maintaining its legal personality and without the need for a new establishemnt or formation of founders committee among others.

The minister added that these amendments aim to provide the highest degree of flexibility in ownership structures, company management, and sales and divestment processes, in addition to introducing a new article regulating the transfer of company registration in the Commercial Register.

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