RAKEZ activity register
Commercial licence activities in RAKEZ
The short answer
RAKEZ — the Ras Al Khaimah Economic Zone — issues its Commercial licence to a company that trades in goods and services: buying and reselling stock, acting as an agent, distributor or commission agent, rather than manufacturing, processing or personally performing the work. RAKEZ files 1,092 named activities under this classification, its largest licence family, out of 3,618 activities on the free zone's register as captured on 25 August 2026. The fact that most often decides fit is what the business does with the goods or deal in front of it: take title and resell it, and Commercial is the family; make or process it, and that sits under Industrial; advise on it without trading it, and that sits under Services.
RAKEZ is the licensing authority for Ras Al Khaimah, running [its own multi-purpose free zone](/setup/free-zones/rakez) across commercial, industrial, educational and media activity. Its Commercial licence is the largest family on the register — 1,092 named entries — covering a company that buys and on-sells goods, or trades in services on an agency or commission basis, rather than making anything itself. The broadest entry is General Trading itself; most of the rest name one line of goods, from Abrasive & Minerals Trading and Agricultural Equipment & Accessories Trading through to Agents by Commission and Air Cargo Agent.
That width is also what separates Commercial from RAKEZ's other families. Manufacturing, processing, importing and exporting of goods is licensed as Industrial, not Commercial — physical production against trading what already exists. Services covers a company billing for advisory work, performed rather than traded, and Professional licenses an individual practitioner rather than a company. A handful of Commercial entries deal in regulated goods — chemicals, pesticides, radioactive or biological materials, aircraft among them — and those typically need sign-off from a sector regulator outside RAKEZ before the licence issues; which ones depends on the specific activity.
RAKEZ licenses a Commercial company in its free zone and, separately, as a non-free zone entity able to trade on the UAE mainland, with different ownership and trading rules decided case by case. Office-based trading activity generally sits against a flexi-desk or office in RAKEZ's Al Nakheel or Al Hamra business zones, and that package shapes the visa allocation rather than the licence alone. Velarozone advises on which entries describe the trading activity and prepares the application; RAKEZ stays the authority that reviews, issues and renews it. [How Velarozone works](/why-velarozone) sets out that division in full.
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 1092 activities RAKEZ 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.
- General Trading
- - Wholesale Of 'Trading all kinds of ready-made curtains
- (UAS trading (wholesale
- Abrasive & Minerals Trading
- Acids & Alkalines Trading
- Adhesives Trading
- Advertising Requisites Trading
- Agarwood & Incense Trading
- Agents by Commission
- Agricultural & Veterinary Pesticides Trading
- Agricultural Enterprises Investment, Institution and Management
- Agricultural Equipment & Accessories Trading
- Agricultural Equipment & Machinery Spare Parts Trading
- Agricultural Tools Trading
- Agricultural Tractors & Machinery Trading
- Air Cargo Agent
- Air Freight & Passengers Charters
- Air Transport of Radioactive, Chemical & Biological Materials
- Air-Condition Trading
- Aircondition & Refrigeration Spare Parts Trading
- Aircraft & Requisites Leasing
- Aircraft Charter & Equipment Rental
- Aircraft Classification Services
- Aircraft Spare Parts & Components Trading
- Aircrafts & Helicopters Trading
- Airlines of Passengers & Cargo Transportation.
- Airplane Management & Operation
- Airport Equipment Trading
- Airport Ground Services
- Animal & Poultry Farms Equipment Trading
What this page does not decide
Decision factors
What changes the answer
What moves the answer for a RAKEZ Commercial licence is less the wording of the activity and more what is actually traded, where it is sold, and whether another regulator has to sign off first.
- Activities trading in regulated goods — chemicals, pesticides, radioactive or biological materials, aircraft among them — typically need sign-off from a sector regulator outside RAKEZ before the licence issues; which ones carry that requirement is decided case by case.
- RAKEZ licenses a Commercial company in its free zone and, separately, as a non-free zone entity able to trade on the UAE mainland; the two carry different ownership and trading rules.
- More than one Commercial entry can sit on a single licence where the activities are genuinely related; RAKEZ decides which combinations it will file together.
- Visa allocation follows the office or flexi-desk package taken alongside the licence, not the licence type itself.
Where this family is a strong fit
- General trading businesses wanting broad import-and-resale rights, filed against the General Trading entry rather than a single product line.
- Specialist wholesalers and distributors trading one line of goods business-to-business, such as Abrasive & Minerals Trading or Agricultural Equipment & Accessories Trading.
- Commission agents and distributors representing a principal's goods or services without manufacturing or performing the work themselves, against an entry such as Agents by Commission.
- A company for whom a flexi-desk or office in RAKEZ's business zones is enough infrastructure, rather than a warehouse or an industrial plot.
Where it is the wrong family
- Businesses that physically manufacture, process or package goods — RAKEZ licenses that under Industrial, not Commercial.
- A company billing for advice or consultancy rather than trading goods or representing a principal — RAKEZ licenses that as Services.
- An individual who wants to provide professional services personally rather than through a company — RAKEZ licenses that as Professional.
- Media production, broadcast or publishing businesses, which RAKEZ licenses separately under its Media classification.
About this listing
Questions
Frequently asked
- What is the difference between RAKEZ's Commercial licence and its Industrial licence?
- RAKEZ licenses manufacturing, processing, importing and exporting of goods under Industrial. Commercial covers trading what already exists — buying and reselling stock, or acting as an agent or distributor — rather than making or processing it.
- How does a Commercial licence differ from a Services licence?
- Services is for a company billing for advisory work across any industry — the work is performed, not traded. Commercial covers a company trading in goods or services on an agency or commission basis instead.
- Can a RAKEZ Commercial licence trade on the UAE mainland?
- Not directly under the free-zone licence. RAKEZ separately licenses non-free zone entities that can trade on the mainland, with different ownership and trading rules decided case by case.
- Does every Commercial activity need approval from another authority?
- Not every one, but some do. Activities trading in regulated goods — chemicals, pesticides, radioactive or biological materials among them — typically need sign-off from a sector regulator before RAKEZ issues the licence; RAKEZ decides case by case which activities carry that requirement.
Sources
Official sources
Check where this activity can be licensed
Tell us what the business actually trades and an adviser checks it against RAKEZ's live Commercial list, flags anything that needs another authority's approval, and confirms whether a free-zone or non-free zone entity fits the market.
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.