Ajman Free Zone activity register
Commercial licence activities in Ajman Free Zone
The short answer
Ajman Free Zone's Commercial licence family covers trading activities — buying, selling, importing, exporting, storing, and distributing goods — and is drawn from a register of 536 activities, kept separate from the zone's Industrial, Services, and Freelancer licence families. It suits a small or mid-sized trading business moving goods through the UAE, working from a Business Centre desk, office, or warehouse. Velarozone prepares the application and liaises with Ajman Free Zone on your behalf; the authority itself decides which activities your licence will carry and what that costs.
Ajman Free Zone organises its licence register into four families: Commercial, Industrial, Services, and Freelancer. Commercial is the trading licence — built around buying, selling, importing, exporting, storing, and distributing goods, rather than the consultancy and support work grouped under Services. Within this family sit 536 separate activities, ranging from retail of specific product lines through to wholesale import-export operations.
A company can be set up under a Commercial licence as a Free Zone Establishment (single shareholder), a Free Zone Company (multiple shareholders), or as a branch of an existing local or foreign company. Ajman Free Zone's own facilities for this licence family run from a shared desk at the Business Centre or a standard office up to warehouse space — the authority's pre-built warehouses start from 100 sq.mtrs, and leasehold land is available on a lease of 20+ years for a business that wants to build its own facility — which matters for a trading business that needs to hold physical stock close to the port rather than only register an address.
Take a trading business planning to deal in Acids & Alkalines Trading, one of the named entries on Ajman Free Zone's own Commercial list, covering the resale of industrial acids and alkalines used in other manufacturers' processes. Under a Commercial licence, that business can import the stock, hold it in a warehouse near Ajman port, and sell it on to buyers across the UAE and abroad — it is not transforming the chemicals itself, which is what would push the activity into the Industrial family instead. If the same group also resells promotional boards and signage under an entry such as Advertising Requisites Trading, Velarozone checks both activities against Ajman Free Zone's list before confirming whether they can sit on one licence and which facility — office, Business Centre desk, or warehouse — suits the stock being held.
Ajman Free Zone has built a reputation as a cost-conscious base for trading, services, and light industrial businesses, which is part of why smaller trading operations look at it early in a search. Velarozone works through the setup process on a client's behalf — gathering the right documents, matching the intended trade against the authority's own activity list, and submitting the application — without ever standing in as the licensing authority itself. [Why work with Velarozone](/why-velarozone) sets out how that advisory role works in practice.
What the Commercial classification covers
Activities in this family describe buying, selling, importing, exporting, and distributing physical goods. Each register entry names a product category — spare parts, building materials, foodstuffs, equipment — and the licence covers the named category, not goods in general.
That specificity is the point of the register. A licence that says one product category does not quietly cover another, and the description on the licence is what a bank, a customs officer, or a counterparty reads first.
What a commercial licence here is structured for
A licence built from this family suits a business whose revenue comes from goods changing hands: import and re-export, wholesale, distribution, or online retail of physical products.
The activity wording should match what you will actually invoice for. Where your product range spans several register categories, the honest licence carries several activities — leaving one off to simplify the application is the mistake that surfaces later at the bank or at renewal.
From the register
Activities in this family, by name
A sample of the 536 activities Ajman Free Zone files under Commercial, exactly as the register names them. Activity names are the authority's own wording and are shown in English in every language; register codes are not published.
- (G.P.S) Retai sale of Global Positioning System
- Acids & Alkalines Trading
- Activity Flavours & fragrances trading - Import & Export
- Advertising Requisites Trading
- Air Freight & Passengers Charters
- Air water generators Trading Import & Export
- Air-Condition, Refrigeration Spare Parts & Components Trading
- Aircraft Scrap & Used Spare Parts Trading
- Aircraft Spare Parts & Components Trading Import & Export
- Aluminium Installation Works
- Animal & Poultry Farms Equipment Trading
- Arab Wear Trading
- Artificial Flowers and Plants Trading
- Auction Hall
- Auction Hall-Import & Export
- Audio Recordings Wholesale
- Authentic Antiques, Artefacts & Artworks Trading - Import & Export
- Auto Spare Parts & Components Trading - Import & Export
- Baby Food Trading - Import & Export
- Baby Wear Trading
- Beauty & Personal Care Requisites Trading - Import & Export
- Blankets, Towels & Linens Trading - Import & Export
- Building & Construction Materials Trading
- Building & Construction Materials Trading Import & Export
- Building Hardware & Tools Trading - Import & Export
- Building Metal Products Trading
- Buses and Trucks Trading - Import & Export
- Carbon Control Systems Trading
- Cars Accessories Trading - Import & Export
- Cars Additional Parts Trading - Import & Export
What this page does not decide
Decision factors
What changes the answer
Velarozone's most recent read of Ajman Free Zone's own Commercial activity list, captured on 25 August 2026, shows the following.
- 536 activities sit under the Commercial family, separate from Ajman Free Zone's Industrial, Services, and Freelancer families.
- Listed activity names range from narrow retail lines — such as "(G.P.S) Retail sale of Global Positioning System" and Acids & Alkalines Trading — through to freight and logistics trading, such as Air Freight & Passengers Charters.
- Import-export pairings appear as their own named entries, for example Activity Flavours & Fragrances Trading - Import & Export and Advertising Requisites Trading, rather than being treated as a single generic trading activity.
- The family is defined around trading in goods; businesses offering consultancy or professional services instead fall under Ajman Free Zone's separate Services family.
- Facility types open to Commercial licence holders run from the Business Centre and office space through to warehouse space — starting from 100 sq.mtrs — and leasehold land on a lease of 20+ years, relevant to a business that will hold stock or build its own facility rather than only administer a trade.
Where this family is a strong fit
- A small or mid-sized trading business importing, exporting, or distributing a defined range of goods.
- An operation that wants a UAE base for buying and selling physical products, rather than providing services or professional advice.
- A business that can start from a Business Centre desk or office for administration and move to warehouse space — available from 100 sq.mtrs upward — once it needs to hold stock.
- A trader whose intended activities match named entries on Ajman Free Zone's own Commercial list, confirmed activity by activity rather than assumed from a general description.
Where it is the wrong family
- A single freelancer or sole consultant with no physical goods — Ajman Free Zone's separate Freelancer licence line is built for that case, not Commercial.
- A manufacturing or processing business that transforms raw materials into finished goods — that sits under the Industrial family.
- A business whose core activity is professional, advisory, or support services rather than trading goods — that falls under the Services family.
- An applicant who needs exact activity names, combination rules, or renewal and visa costs confirmed before they are willing to proceed — those are set by Ajman Free Zone itself, activity by activity.
About this listing
Questions
Frequently asked
- What does a Commercial licence from Ajman Free Zone cover?
- It covers trading activities — buying, selling, importing, exporting, storing, and distributing goods — drawn from a register of 536 named activities that Ajman Free Zone maintains separately from its Industrial, Services, and Freelancer licence families.
- Can more than one trading activity sit on a single Commercial licence?
- Ajman Free Zone decides which activities can be combined on one licence and what each combination costs; Velarozone checks the intended activities against the authority's own list before confirming what is possible for a given business.
- What premises can a Commercial licence holder use in Ajman Free Zone?
- Options include a shared desk at the Business Centre, standard or executive office space, and warehouse space — pre-built warehouses start from 100 sq.mtrs — with leasehold land also available on a lease of 20+ years for a business building its own facility; which premises suit a given licence depends on the activities carried and is set by the authority.
- Does a Commercial licence come with visas, and what does it cost?
- Visa entitlement, licence fees, and renewal costs are set by Ajman Free Zone and depend on the activities and facility chosen; Velarozone obtains these figures from the authority as part of the application rather than publishing them separately.
- How does a Commercial licence differ from Ajman Free Zone's Services and Industrial licences?
- Commercial covers trading in goods — buying, selling, importing, exporting, storing, and distributing, with nothing manufactured or transformed along the way. Services is a separate family for consultancy, support, and professional activities where no goods change hands. Industrial covers manufacturing or processing — importing raw materials, making listed goods, and exporting the finished product. A business doing more than one of these alongside trading would need to check with Ajman Free Zone whether it needs a licence from more than one family.
- What ongoing obligations apply once a Commercial licence is issued?
- Annual renewal, maintaining an immigration file for any visas sponsored, and UAE corporate tax obligations all apply once the licence is active; the specific figures and filing details are confirmed by the relevant authority rather than fixed in advance.
Check where this activity can be licensed
Velarozone can check your intended trading activities against Ajman Free Zone's own Commercial licence list and confirm what applies to your business before you apply.
This page is general information about UAE business setup, not legal, tax, immigration, or banking advice. Rules, fees, permitted activities, and bank policies can change. Final eligibility depends on your facts and the applicable rules at the time of application.